Energy minister: Question of Ukraine's withdrawal from European Energy Community not raised at EU-Ukraine summit
The question of Ukraine's possible withdrawal from the Energy Community was not discussed at the EU-Ukraine summit, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavytsky has said.
"This issue was not discussed at all," he told Ukrainian journalists in Brussels on Monday.
At the same time, Stavytsky said that the summit participants discussed in Brussels Ukraine's real concern about "the absence of a reaction [from the EU] with respect to [Gazprom's] bill [to Ukraine for its failure to import agreed amounts of gas]."
He also said that the meeting participants had discussed the issues of the construction of pipelines bypassing Ukraine, in particular, South Stream, which are currently being considered by the EU member states.
"[The EU energy] commissioner said that these pipelines are not EU projects, but they respect what is going on," the minister said.
He said that the Ukrainian side insisted that these issues be discussed with the participation of Ukraine, "so that we can have complete understanding."
"Moreover, the European Union - I heard it from the commissioner – wants Ukraine to become a center for the energy security of the whole of Europe," Stavytsky said.
