Russia agreed to resume gas supplies to Ukraine over the winter under a deal clinched late on Friday with the EU, capping months of difficult talks overshadowed by the Ukrainian conflict.
European Commission Vice President for Energy Maros Sefcovic told a news conference the preliminary deal was a “crucial step” to ensure Ukraine has gas supplies from next month through March and that Europe receives onward deliveries.
“We just initialed a trilateral agreement for the upcoming winter,” Sefcovic said after nearly six hours of talks with the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers in Brussels.
He added that “all technical details are agreed” and the framework was set, but confirmation and formal signing of the full agreement would require separate procedures.
“I’m confident that the agreement will soon be confirmed and smoothly implemented,” he said after tweeting earlier it was a “major achievement.”
Ukrainian Minister of Energy Volodymyr Demchyshyn told reporters “commercial conditions were acceptable” and that he expected the deal to be signed shortly.
“I’m sure we will be preparing for the heating season and start pumping gas into storage shortly,” he said.
“Ukraine confirmed in this document its capacity to ensure uninterrupted transit of Russian gas to EU partners,” he added.
“We will spare no effort to avoid any issues, problems,” Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said.
Sefcovic said that the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, would continue arranging for EU and international financing of Ukraine’s winter gas purchases.
“At least US$500 million should be available by the end of this year,” he said.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in bitter dispute for years, which worsened significantly when a popular uprising ousted pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych in late 2013.
As the Ukraine crisis worsened and pro-Russian rebels seized large areas of eastern Ukraine, the gas supply talks were held hostage by a conflict which has now cost about 8,000 lives.
At the end of July, Ukraine announced it was halting all Russian gas purchases because it found the price inconsistent with what Russian energy giant Gazprom charged other European clients.
However, in recent weeks, there appears to have been an easing of tensions on the ground in eastern Ukraine with a ceasefire finally holding after months of daily breaches.
At the same time, the EU pursued contacts with both sides, mindful of the approach of winter when gas demand will rise.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS