FM Kuleba: Ukraine wants to discuss Nord Stream 2, gas crisis in Normandy format

"Negotiations in the Normandy format are currently being held exclusively at the level of advisers to the leaders. After Merkel's visits to Moscow and Kyiv, two rounds of consultations and two video conferences took place. The topic of gas was not discussed at them, though it directly puts pressure on the negotiators," Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"Ukraine believes that Nord Stream 2 and Ukraine's military security, the situation in eastern Ukraine are directly related issues, so we advocate linking these issues and discussing them," Kuleba said.

The minister noted that advisers in the Normandy format currently strived to organize a summit, which Angela Merkel wants to hold and is ready to hold as the Chancellor of Germany.

“My German and French colleagues, Heiko Maas and Jean-Yves Le Drian, wanted to hold the Normandy format meeting at the level of foreign ministers during the UN General Assembly in New York. I immediately agreed. But Sergey Lavrov, as always, did not find the time and opportunity. Therefore, the situation is uncertain. If we had a meeting of ministers, I would definitely take the opportunity to raise the issue of how the gas crisis affects the security situation in Ukraine and in Europe in general," he said.

The Ukrainian foreign minister noted that the gas crisis was created in manual mode, "so people understand that this is not a set of factors that have come together, and this tangle must be solved."

"Everyone understands the source of the crisis, how it was created. Obviously, there is an opinion in Europe that a solution will be found with Russia and the issue will stabilize. Western European politicians or entrepreneurs cannot imagine even in their worst dreams that Russia may let them down and freeze their houses, factories, and plants," he explained.

We all see an artificial gas crisis in Europe, Kuleba noted.

"It overlaps with the acceleration of the green transition in Europe. We see an extraordinary situation in China, which is also officially explained by the green transition, the reduction of coal production. I do not rule out that the problems of our pipeline may be only a small element of the global energy crisis. Nord Stream 2 has not been launched yet, it must be taken into account. And it is still unknown when the gas will go via Nord Stream 2, despite all the victorious reports of Gazprom and Russia," the minister added.

As reported, Ukraine wants to hold the Normandy format meeting with the participation of incumbent Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.

Kuleba stressed that the decisions of the Normandy format summit with the participation of Merkel would be relevant for the new Government of Germany.

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