Gas negotiations Ukraine-Russia-EU: war of attrition

After a break of more than three months, and intensive efforts by the EU, trilateral gas talks between Ukraine, Russia and the EU were resumed on 26 September 2014. At a meeting in Berlin, the EU’s energy commissioner Günther Oettinger proposed a temporary solution to the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, the adoption of which would enable a stable supply of natural gas during the winter to both Ukraine and the EU. The fundamental differences between the parties led to the failure of the gas negotiations in June 2014, which resulted in the suspension on 16 June of Gazprom’s gas supplies to Ukraine. The new EC proposal is unspecific on many points (such as the method of calculating the Ukrainian debt to Gazprom; the bases of the new supply, including the price formula; and the ‘take or pay’ clause) and will require further difficult negotiations.

ESO: Background information: Russia threatens EU states with gas cut-offs http://www.europeansources.info/record/russia-threatens-eu-states-with-gas-cut-offs/

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