“We want to ensure that gas transit through Ukraine remains,” Merkel said.
She clarified that Ukraine should remain a transit country in the future.
The head of the German government admitted that there are great concerns in Ukraine about the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.
“We take these concerns seriously, and we will continue to discuss this topic tonight. And it will make a difference during my visit to the United States,” said Angela Merkel.
The German chancellor was also asked to clarify whether the guarantees that Ukraine will remain a gas transit country will be effective.
“I fully understand Ukraine's fears, but we know what happened to Ukraine. If you asked me 10 years ago whether there would be an annexation of Crimea or whether Russia would be separatists in eastern Ukraine, I would not have thought that it was possible either. I must say that there are guarantees and can be in the form of treaties, but Russia simply violated these guarantees, Ukraine gave up its atomic weapons. We, from the European side, negotiated together so that the transit would continue until 2024,” commented Angela.
