BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The European Union is trying to maintain the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine for politically motivated reasons, Russian Envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said.
"I think they have the ultimate goal of keeping the Ukrainian transit, which is a purely political stance. It does not have any economic basis," he said, answering a question during an interview with RIA Novosti of why Brussels is not seeking to enhance cooperation with Russia on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project through the Black Sea and Greece that bypasses Ukraine.
The European Union will not be able to continue providing Kiev with financial support if Ukraine announces default due to the EU's legislation, Vladimir Chizhov said.
"Yes, if a default is announced, they cannot continue financial support according to legislation," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
The European Union to a certain extent is standing on the sidelines in the process Ukraine's conflict settlement, Russian Envoy to the EU said.
"As for the Ukrainian internal conflict, the EU to some extent is standing on the sidelines. Two EU members are participating in the Normandy format negotiations on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine and operating on a national capacity. The European structures, as well as US representatives, for obvious reasons, are not engaged [in the talks]," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
The next meeting of the representatives of Russia, the European Union, and Ukraine on the implementation of the economic part of the Ukraine-EU association agreement will take part on the level of experts in July, Vladimir Chizhov said.
"In July, I expect there will be a meeting on the level of experts based on the results of which the future of another ministerial meeting will be determined," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
The European Union is supporting the Ukrainian authorities that have repeatedly violated the Minsk agreements instead of putting pressure on them, Russian Envoy to the EU said.
Source: Sputnik
