MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. Germany feels that it shoulders responsibility for making sure that Ukraine holds on to its role as a transit country for Russian gas beyond 2024, when the current contract is due to expire, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday during her farewell summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The position of an authorized representative for gas transit via Ukraine was established in Germany in 2019. Its powers were extended this week "in order to say that gas transit via Ukraine can and should be extended beyond 2024," she insisted. "We feel that it is our responsibility for that," Merkel stressed.

Nord Stream 2 is not a ‘Russian-German project’ but a shared European one, the veteran German chancellor maintained. Merkel added she had spoken with the Russian leader about the agreements reached with the US on that topic.