Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said, on Saturday 25 January, during talks in Kyiv with Moldovan President Maia Sandu on the country’s energy situation (see other news), that he was prepared to enter into negotiations with Ilham Aliyev’s Azerbaijan to bring Azeri gas to Ukraine, Transnistria and other European countries.
This announcement follows Kyiv’s decision not to extend the agreement for the transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukrainian territory, which was due to expire on 31 December 2024, provoking the anger of Slovakia and Hungary in particular (see EUROPE 13556/25, 13565/5), which benefited greatly from these Russian supplies.
“There is gas, there are supply routes from Azerbaijan”, said Mr Zelensky, who previously spoke to Mr Aliyev on the subject when they met at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“The main thing is to have the political will to work for the benefit of your people, not to cooperate with Moscow for some shadow pocket, as some characters in Eastern European do”, he added. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)