Russia’s Gazprom halts gas supply through Ukraine after end of transit deal

MOSCOW (AA): A five-year deal between Moscow and Kyiv on the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine expired on Wednesday as the latter refused to extend the deal amid the ongoing war between the two countries.

“Due to the repeated and explicit refusal of the Ukrainian side to extend these agreements, Gazprom was deprived of the technical and legal possibility to supply gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine starting from January 1, 2025,” said a statement by the Russian energy giant on Telegram.

The statement further said the deal, signed in December 2019 between Gazprom and Ukraine’s national oil and gas company Naftogaz, expired as of 8 a.m. Moscow time (0500GMT).

Separately, a Ukrainian Energy Ministry statement said the transit of Russian gas was halted “in the interests of national security,” with Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko describing the halting of the deal as a “historic event.”

“Russia is losing markets, it will suffer financial losses. Europe has already made a decision to abandon Russian gas. And the European initiative Repower EU provides for exactly what Ukraine has done today,” Halushchenko was further quoted as saying in the statement.

Ukrainian officials have previously voiced that Kyiv would not extend the deal with Russia, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that they will not allow Moscow to “earn additional billions” amid the ongoing Ukraine war.

Earlier last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the deal as “clearly history,” but that “Gazprom will survive” despite its expiration.