Ukraine continues to fight against Nord Stream 2 - Poroshenko

He said this at a joint briefing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after a meeting in Berlin on Friday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We [Ukraine] have not ended our struggle for stopping the construction of Nord Stream 2, proposing that German companies participate in managing the Ukrainian gas transportation system," Poroshenko said.

He added that Germany offers a mechanism in the form of guaranteeing a certain amount of "gas pumping" through Ukraine whereas the Ukrainian authorities see a way out of the situation in stopping the construction of this pipeline due to the political nature of the project and a threat to Ukraine.

"I want to emphasize that our negotiations with Germany in this area are ongoing," Poroshenko added.

Merkel, in turn, stated that Germany and Ukraine have a common goal in relation to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

According to her, it is about preserving Ukraine's role as a transit country for Russian gas.

Merkel recalled that negotiations were ongoing on the extension of the gas transit contract with Russia and that the EU was participating in them. "This will continue," she said.

The chancellor also said that while communicating with Russian President Vladimir Putin she constantly makes it clear that transit through Ukraine must be preserved.

op