Ukraine continues its struggle to halt the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said.
“Nord Stream 2 is not a new [topic] in discussions between Ukraine and Germany, between Ukraine and the European Union. We firmly declare that we have not stopped our struggle to halt the construction of Nord Stream 2, by inviting German companies to participate in the management of the Ukrainian gas transportation system,” Poroshenko said at a joint briefing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
The president of Ukraine stressed that the existence of strategic partnership demonstrates that the parties can discuss any issues.
“So far, Germany’s position is to protect Ukraine and ensure security. At the moment we see mechanisms for protecting this security in different ways: Germany [sees it] in the form of guaranteeing a certain amount of pumping [gas through the Ukrainian GTS], we see in stopping the construction of this pipeline [Nord Stream 2],” he said.
Poroshenko stressed that Ukraine sees “a serious political ground and a threat to Ukraine” in this project.
“I can say that our negotiations in Germany in this field are continuing,” he said.
Merkel, in turn, confirmed the words of Poroshenko, stressing that “our strategic partnership can withstand certain differences.”
The German Chancellor reiterated that Ukraine should remain a transit country. According to her, she told President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin that the Nord Stream 2 project would not leave Ukraine without gas transit.
