Ukraine has the right to demand compensation or guarantees from partners in the West if Russia stops the transit of gas through its territory. This was stated by the Member of the European Parliament and member of the European Parliament delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee and former Prime Minister of Lithuania Andrius Kubilius in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Ukraine has a legitimate right to demand some compensation or guarantees from Western partners who have guaranteed that transit will remain, and in fact things are not going in that direction. As far as I understand, the Ukrainian government is offering the Western community some opportunities to use transit pipelines.” I hope that there will be good attempts in the EU to study these proposals seriously, “Kubilius said.
According to him, in mid-November the European Parliament will organize special online discussions on all these issues.
“This is an opportunity for Ukraine to raise the issue not only of energy security, but also of security in general. Security guarantees come with much faster integration into the EU and NATO. Ukraine has a legitimate right to appeal to the Western community in a situation where, unfortunately, Ukraine’s security through the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline will be very negatively affected,” Kubilius said.
In addition, the MEP added that the EU is concerned about the situation on the gas market, in particular, with regard to Ukraine and Nord Stream-2.
At least if you read Putin and Peskov’s statement, you will see that they openly use this situation in the gas market as a tool for blackmailing. They demand for launching Nord Stream 2 without complying with EU directives. This winter can be difficult, and we will see what can be done by the EU, we will discuss some of these issues, “Kubilius added.