MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Russia is ready to continue gas supplies to Europe via several routes, including via Ukraine, the fate of transit through the territory of this country depends on agreements between the EU and Kiev, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel.
"To date, this issue <...> has not been resolved, although Europeans and European countries are interested in this. But this depends primarily on the agreement between the European Union and Kiev on the possibility of such supplies. In turn, we have always stated that we are ready to continue supplying gas not only via the existing branch, there are a number of other routes," he said.
According to him, no-nonsense politicians in Europe are talking about the need to continue gas supplies via Ukraine.
"As we know, domestic production there is quite low, so the main gas that Europe receives is imported either in the form of pipeline gas or liquefied natural gas," he said.
Ukraine is expected to halt transit of Russian gas through its territory on January 1, 2025, after the expiration of the five-year contract. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there would definitely not be a new contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, but Russia and Gazprom will survive this. Putin noted that it was Ukraine that refused to extend the contract, although it received around $700-800 million per year thanks to it.