BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2018) Trilateral expert consultations between Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission on the issue of Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine after the current contract expires in 2019 will be held in the Belgian capital of Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, a source in the European Commission's press service told Sputnik on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, which is currently underway in the Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok, that talks would be held on Wednesday, and that experts from the Russian Energy Ministry would take part in it.
As the current contract for the transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine expires in late 2019, Ukraine has repeatedly voiced its willingness to continue remaining a transit country, as well as its concern over new gas pipelines bypassing its territory.
While Nord Stream-2 pipeline project, that will deliver 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas a year to the European Union via pipelines bypassing Ukraine, is set to be put into operation by the end of 2019, Russian gas transit through Ukraine will continue if it is economically viable, according to the Russian president.
