Maas: Berlin trying to prevent Kremlin’s ‘gas pressure’ on Ukraine

15.06.2021 16:22

Ukrinform

The German side is doing everything possible, including together with the American partners, to guarantee Ukraine the continuation of Russian gas transit even after Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is launched.

“We will talk to Biden’s administration about how to make sure that the project, which is almost complete, does did lead to what they fear, namely its use as a means of political pressure on Ukraine,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Heiko Maas said on the air of Welt TV channel.

At the same time, the diplomat acknowledged that at present it is not clear enough what the guarantees for Ukraine might look like if Russia still resorted to “political pressure with the use of money or infrastructure measures.” However, he stressed that Germany was working to prevent such developments and to ensure Ukraine's security in this matter. “Everything else does not depend on us,” Maas added but assured that Berlin had always made it clear to Moscow during the talks in recent years and months that transit contracts with Ukraine should continue being in force.

“Ukraine will not be excluded from transit. Berlin pays great attention to this issue. We have always told the Russian side that we will jointly complete this project only if there is an alternative route for gas transit through Ukraine,” Maas said, adding that this transit provides Kyiv with $2 billion in revenue annually. The foreign minister reminded that Germany was a participant in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to extend the transit contract for five years.

Maas does not believe that the pipeline will make Germany dependent on Russia. He argued that Germany and Europe had been buying Russian gas for decades, since the Cold War and the Soviet Union times.

The German foreign minister also said that the EU and the United States should speak to Russia "in clear terms." According to him, U.S. President Joe Biden, as he himself stated, should define “red lines” during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Maas said he was very concerned about current developments in Russia and on its borders. He stressed that any conflict and any war must be ended by diplomatic and political, not military means. “The militarization of conflicts cannot be an alternative. What we experienced with Ukraine, when large military forces were suddenly pulled to [its] borders, cannot be our goal,” the German minister said.

The first meeting between the presidents of the United States and Russia is scheduled for June 16 in Geneva.