Ukraine To Remain Gas Transit Country After Nord Stream 2: Merkel

Berlin, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jul, 2021 ) :German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted on Monday that natural gas transit through Ukraine would continue even after the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline linking the country with Russia is completed.

"Ukraine is and will remain a transit country even once Nord Stream 2 is completed," Merkel told a Berlin press conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"There are big worries about this on the Ukrainian side and we take those seriously," she said, adding that Germany would do "everything we can" to guarantee the key revenue source for Ukraine.

The nearly finished 10-billion-euro ($12-billion) pipeline is set to double Russian gas supplies to Germany, Europe's largest economy.

But the project is fiercely opposed by the United States and several European countries which argue that it will increase energy dependence on Russia and Moscow's geopolitical clout.

The pipeline bypasses Ukraine's gas infrastructure, depriving the nation of around a billion Euros annually in transit fees and, Kiev fears, removing a key check on potential Russian aggression in the region.

Speaking in Berlin, Zelensky reiterated that Nord Stream 2 posed "a potential security threat to Ukraine and the region".

To soothe tensions, Germany has helped broker a deal that will see Russia's Gazprom pay transit fees to Ukraine until end-2024, regardless of whether it actually uses Ukrainian pipelines.

Germany has repeatedly said it stands ready to play middleman in discussions to ensure Kiev keeps receiving the fees beyond that date.

Merkel said Germany would strive to keep Russian gas flowing through Ukraine "in the future".

"That's what we promised Ukraine," she said, "and I keep my promises and I think any future German chancellor will as well".

The veteran German leader, who is bowing out at September's general election after 16 years in power, will travel to Washington this week for talks with US President Joe Biden in which Nord Stream 2 is expected to feature heavily.

Despite strong criticism of the pipeline, Biden in May waived key sanctions on Nord Stream 2 after concluding that it was too late to stop the project and it was better to seek cooperation with Germany.

US officials have previously voiced hope that Germany will agree to outline automatic retaliatory steps that would be triggered if Russia steps up pressure on Ukraine.