The issue of a new gas contract between Russia and Ukraine has nothing to do with the specific persons who currently rule the country but the issue of international obligations, which should be relevant for future generations of Ukrainian leaders, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2019) The issue of a new gas contract between Russia and Ukraine has nothing to do with the specific persons who currently rule the country but the issue of international obligations, which should be relevant for future generations of Ukrainian leaders, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.
"The issue is not about who are currently in power, it is about adhering to international obligations. We believe that these obligations must be relevant for future leaders of the state," Medvedev said during a tv show aired by Rossiya 1 broadcaster on Saturday.
The prime minister recalled that Ukraine's debt to Russia amounts to $3 billion.
"They often tell us that it was [then President Viktor] Yanukovych who borrowed these $3 billion some time ago, and that as they did not borrow this money it is not their responsibility to return it ... But it was not Yanukovych who borrowed it but the Ukrainian state, which is responsible for this debt. All courts by the way recognize it. This principle must also apply to gas issues. I hope that the current generation of Ukrainian leaders, both the president and the government, understand that," Medvedev added.
The current gas transit contract between Russia and Ukraine expires at the end of 2019. At the latest trilateral consultations with the participation of the European Commission in October, Russia stressed the need for a "package solution," combining the transit issue with litigation and the issue of gas supplies to Ukraine, but no progress was made in that regard.
