Russian gas shipments to Europe through Ukraine end
'We have stopped the transit of Russian gas, it's a historic event,' Ukraine said – 'Russia is losing markets, it will suffer financial losses'
The transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine ceased Wednesday morning, Moscow and Kyiv said, marking the end of a five-year contract signed at the end of 2019.
"We have stopped the transit of Russian gas, it's a historic event. Russia is losing markets, it will suffer financial losses," declared Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko. Gazprom, Russia's energy giant, confirmed that "since 8 o'clock [am], Russian gas has not been supplied for transit through Ukraine."
This decision, hailed by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski as "a new victory" over Moscow, is particularly worrying for Hungary and Slovakia, who are heavily dependent on Russian gas. Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico even went to Moscow on December 22 to try to find an emergency solution. From now on, Europe will only be supplied with Russian gas through the TurkStream pipeline and its Balkan Stream extension, as well as LNG imports by methane carriers. In 2023, transit via Ukraine represented 14.65 billion cubic meters, according to official figures.