Russia, Ukraine, EU Continue Technical Meeting, Don’t Set Date for Trilateral Negotiations

Russia, Ukraine and the European Union made progress during their technical meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the European Commission said on Friday, adding that no date has been set for the trilateral negotiations that should have originally taken place this week.

The parties are working on pricing and amounts of gas for a 9-month deal, which would create the legal framework for Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine till the end of the next heating season. 

"There was a trilateral technical meeting in Brussels yesterday afternoon where all the parties met at the civil servant level to discuss the remaining open issues which include the pricing of gas, as well as the amounts of gas and financial support to Ukraine," Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said, as reported by Reuters.

Itkonen said that experts will continue to work, hoping that the political negotiations will take place “very soon.”

Gazprom and Naftogaz recently signed a contract to extend the so-called Winter Package until June 30, with Ukrainian costumers paying around $248 per thousand cubic metres of gas. 

Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič stated he expects the talks to take place by the end of April.