Kobolev was demanded to blackmail Gazprom to the end or leave
Russia’s proposal to extend the gas contract with Ukraine for one year is due to the fact that Nord Stream 2 will not be completed by the end of this year.
However, different opinions of Kyiv and Moscow regarding the duration of the contract stall any agreements.
Former Minister of Economy of Ukraine Viktor Suslov stated this on air on the 112 Ukraine TV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“You need to understand what the dispute is about, because there is an official proposal from the Russian Federation to extend the current contract for both gas supplies to Ukraine and gas transit, but for one year. And it’s clear why, because their construction of Nord Stream 2 has now slowed down, they hope that if the contract with Ukraine is extended for a year, they will still complete the construction of this gas pipeline with the participation of Western European companies, and then they’ll see if to renew or not.
Naturally, Ukraine is not satisfied with this and Ukraine insists again on signing a ten-year contract as was done in 2009. But this is where it all comes down to.
Now there is another important factor: the Russians, in essence, have no one to negotiate with, we do not have a legitimate government for today, a new one,” he noted.
Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Yekhanurov agreed with these words, adding that Russia has obligations to supply gas to Europe, so Kyiv needs to turn up its nose until the last minute and wait for concessions.
“We have a chance for normal negotiations with the Russian Federation precisely because they got into trouble. They expected that Nord Stream 2 would happen this year, and then from 2020 there would be new realities. New realities have not happened, now they need to postpone it for one year and then they will decide this issue again.
We need to use this moment, but we have a dead Ministry of Foreign Affairs for several months after the presidential elections, they are just carrying out one-day operations, they are just existing. But they don’t conduct politics, because there is no new minister, and there are no physical people in the presidential team.
Under no circumstances should we agree to a one-year delay; this would be to play to their tune. And so we need to understand now: they are not going anywhere, they are obliged to supply gas to Europe.
Europe understands that they cannot survive without this gas. We have to use it, but it's an art. This is the art of negotiation, this is the art of people who are able to sign up for it. And here’s a direct question then: “Are you capable, Mr. Kobolev, of doing this, of preparing all these things? No? Goodbye,” says Yekhanurov.
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