MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/: Moscow proceeds from the fact that reaching agreements with Kiev on the transit and supply of gas is possible only in the absence of any judicial claims, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Tuesday.
"Russia stated its position yesterday (at the trilateral consultations of Russia, the EU and Ukraine on gas on Monday - TASS). Of course, it implies in particular that some judicial claims should certainly be removed from the agenda if we’re talking about an agreement," the Kremlin spokesman said.
On Monday, talking to reporters after the trilateral consultations on gas between Russia, Ukraine and the EU in Brussels, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that his ministry supports an end-to-end solution with Ukraine, comprising gas transit and supplies and settlement of litigation.
"An important point we have discussed today was related to other aspects of our relations, including settlement of legal disputes. We believe they should be resolved in a package, including issues related to Russian gas supplies directly to Ukrainian consumers, bypassing reverse. This is also an issue that has been discussed today," the minister said.
In turn, Naftogaz of Ukraine stated that Kiev was not ready to discuss any package gas agreements with Moscow.
Gazprom and Naftogaz of Ukraine plunged into a litigation over gas supplies and transit contracts with the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce back in 2014.
In December 2017 and February 2018, the Stockholm Arbitration Institute issued decisions on those disputes obliging the Russian company to pay $2.56 bln to the Ukrainian company. Gazprom appealed against those decisions.
