BRUSSELS, November 8. /TASS/. Trilateral expert consultations of Russia, the EU and Ukraine on natural gas started in Brussels, TASS reports on Friday. The Russian and the Ukrainian delegations arrived at the building of the European Commission. The meeting is held behind closed doors.
Head of the Russian delegation, Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky did not disclose details of forthcoming consultations when responding to questions of reporters. "A technical meeting will be held; working points will be discussed," he said.
"The decision will be made by ministers, we can only propose," the official said, responding to a question whether the date of the trilateral ministerial meeting would be determined today.
The parties agreed to hold the next ministerial meeting before the end of November, according to results of the previous meeting in Brussels on October 28.
The current ten-year contract on transit of the Russian gas through the Ukrainian territory expires on December 31, 2019. Moscow and Kiev are negotiating the future of gas transit via Ukraine. Russia suggests that mutual claims in the gas dispute should be reduced to zero, while Gazprom is ready to reduce tariffs on gas supplies. As an alternative, Moscow is ready to extend the transit agreement for 2020.