Ukraine says guarantees were discussed with the United States and Germany over Nord Stream 2

KYIV, Aug. 23 (Reuters) – Ministers of Energy for Ukraine, the United States and Germany discussed assurances for Ukraine about its future as a transit country following the construction of the North Stream 2 gas pipeline. Russia said on Monday the head of energy of Ukraine.

Kyiv fears that Russia may use the pipeline, which will bring Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, to deprive Ukraine of lucrative transit rates. Several other nations are also concerned that it will deepen Europe’s dependence on Russian energy supplies.

The three ministers discussed “a number of measures that can be taken together in terms of real guarantees for Ukraine on the preservation of traffic,” said Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.

“We came from the position that was stated and expressed by the President of Ukraine: that we can not allow the Russian Federation to use gas as a weapon,” he told reporters.

Ukraine is bitterly opposed to an agreement between Washington and Berlin on North Stream 2, which will bring gas to Europe while avoiding Ukraine. The administration of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, has not tried to kill the project with sanctions, as pressured by Ukraine.

“From the current perspective, we must not reject any suggestion, but neither should we create insurmountable obstacles,” German Economy and Energy Minister Peter Altmaier told reporters.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Zelenskiy in Kiev on Sunday to offer assurances that they would protect Ukraine’s interests, but Zelenskiy called for more clarity on what measures would be taken. Read more

Monday’s meeting took place on the sidelines of the Crimea Platform, a summit in Kiev designed to keep international attention focused on returning Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.

“Personally I will do my best to return Crimea, so that it becomes part of Europe along with Ukraine,” Zelenskiy told delegates from 46 countries.

When he addressed the summit after talks on gas, Altmaier accused Russia of repression in Crimea. “We will not allow Crimea to become a blind spot,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said sanctions on Moscow would be maintained until Russia relinquished control of the peninsula and added that “Russia must be held accountable for its aggressions.”

Relations between Kiev and Moscow collapsed after the annexation and outbreak of war between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine, which Kiev says killed 14,000 people in seven years .

Ukraine has accused Russia of trying to sabotage the summit by pressuring countries not to attend, while Russia has criticized the West for supporting the event.

Reports by Pavel Polityuk; written by Matthias Williams Editing by Tomasz Janowski

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