According to comprehensive Russian media reports, the president of the Ukrainian State Oil and Gas Company (Naftogaz) announced that the signing of a new agreement to export Russian gas through pipelines that do not transit through Ukraine will cost Ukraine billions of dollars in transit costs of Russian gas, which may lead to a military conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Screenshot of the russian RT website report
On November 1, local time, Yuri Viterenko, president of the Ukrainian State Oil and Gas Corporation, declared in an interview with the British Financial Times that the Russian-German Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline increased the risk of war between Russia and Ukraine. He believes that bypassing Ukraine could make the country more vulnerable to a "invasion" by Russia.
The energy tycoon claimed that if "there is no actual gas shipment through Ukraine, this will increase the likelihood of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine with all the consequences".
In this regard, Russian lawmaker Olga Kovitidi pointed out that Ukraine should focus on solving internal problems and stop extorting Russia. "Ukraine should repair its transit pipelines, and the economy needs to be taken care of regularly, because this unprofessional policy in the field of state management will not make Ukrainians happier and richer," she said. ”
Reuters infographic
The Nord Stream-2 pipeline, which connects Siberian gas fields to Consumers in Western Europe, was completed in September. The pipeline, which stretches from Russia to Germany, can transport up to 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. The pipeline is currently undergoing final testing, awaiting approval from German regulators in order to begin operations.
In the same month that the pipeline was completed, Ukraine said it would "continue to fight" against the new gas pipeline. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy denounced the Russian project as a geopolitical "weapon," saying ukraine would lose at least $3 billion in transit fees paid by Russia if it were no longer necessary to deliver gas through pipelines on the country's territory. Zelenskiy said the move could result in the Ukrainian government being unable to afford to maintain the armed forces.
Image source: Visual China
The Russian side insists there are no plans to close the gas pipeline and abide by the current agreement. The Kremlin added that any future deal is a commercial issue for Gazprom.
In this dispute, the United States has been supporting Ukraine in imposing sanctions on companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream-2. Before the pipeline was completed in September, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "Everyone knows that the United States has realized (that the pipeline will be built), but despite this, Nord Stream-2 still faces a full-scale frontal attack." ”
In September, Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser on energy security at the U.S. State Department, called on Ukraine to look to the future and focus on developing its own gas network rather than opposing Russia's new pipeline. "I think we have to move from talking about what we all want to happen, which is that this project is not going to be done, to talking about the reality of the present, which is that it will be done," he said at the time. We must also start working with Ukraine to transform the energy economy here to adapt to what is happening in the rest of the world, especially in Europe. (Editor: hhj)