While visiting Kiev on Sunday 22 August, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, tried to reassure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project that has been designed to link Russia to Germany in order to bring Russian gas to Europe, while not, however, needing to pass through Ukraine.
“We agree with the Americans that gas should not be used as a geopolitical weapon”, said the Chancellor after her meeting with Mr Zelensky. She continued to say: “It is important that Ukraine remains a transit land (for gas)”.
However, the Ukrainian President did not appear to be convinced. “We are only considering this project from a security point of view and we see it as a dangerous geopolitical weapon wielded by the Kremlin”, he said.
Two days before arriving in Kiev, Merkel had failed to reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin over an extension to the agreement regarding the transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine. The agreement was concluded in December 2019 with the support of the European Commission (see EUROPE 12395/10) and is due to expire in 2024.
Nord Stream 2 has caused concern in Ukraine as well as in some EU Member States. The USA also fear that Moscow could use the pipeline as a geopolitical lever, by increasing the EU’s dependence on Russian gas.
“I believe that not to notice that this is a dangerous weapon, not only for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe, is wrong”, insisted the Ukrainian President, at the same time as the Biden administration recently abandoned any sanctions against the project.
Ukraine is also concerned that the pipeline will jeopardise any extension of the transit agreement with Moscow. A failure to achieve this would mean a multi-billion dollar loss for the country, with Zelensky estimating the revenue from the current deal stands at over $7 billion.
The meeting between the two political leaders was followed on Monday 23 August by a discussion between the energy ministers of Ukraine, the United States and Germany with the goal of providing “genuine guarantees” to Kiev about the transit of gas through the country once the construction of Nord Stream 2 is completed.
“From today’s perspective we shouldn’t reject any suggestions, but also not create any insurmountable obstacles”, said the German Minister, Peter Altmaier.
Monday also saw the opening of the first summit of the Crimea platform, which Merkel did not attend (see EUROPE 12774/3). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)