Ukraine founded the “Crimean Platform” on Monday, a format with which it wants to keep the unsolved question of the peninsula annexed by Russia open. However, the summit meeting with representatives from around 40 countries was overshadowed by differences over the almost completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier met with his colleagues from the United States and Ukraine on this topic. Kiev fears that if the gas transit lines from Russia through Ukraine are shut down, it will be economically and militarily vulnerable to Moscow. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin recently indicated that further gas transit through Ukraine was also dependent on specific demand from European companies, it is feared thatWith the transit through Nord Stream 2, Russia could try to undercut the price of the Ukraine transit.

Gerhard Gnauck

Political correspondent for Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania based in Warsaw.

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The head of the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz told the FAZ: “We could offer our partners in the EU competitive gas transit, but Gazprom has so far not allowed anyone to buy gas on the Russian-Ukrainian border and continues to act as a monopoly.

Russia has not yet allowed third parties access to our gas pipeline. ”For a year and a half, Ukraine has been calling for an end to this blockade situation.

This has been addressed to the federal government and, if necessary, will also contact the EU General Directorate for Competition Policy.

According to the rules of EU energy policy, European companies would have to have unrestricted access to all gas pipelines leading into the EU.

Threat of legal action against German authorities

If the responsible German authorities do not take action against the "illegal use" of Nord Stream 1, Nord Stream 2 and the Ukrainian pipeline network, legal action will be taken. The claim that the Ukrainian lines are less reliable is propaganda: “We have seven times fewer incidents on our lines than the Russian network.” The Ukrainian transit lines consist of up to four strings, so that defects can be avoided. “It works like clockwork.” If the Russian gas company Gazprom now tries to “force Europeans to violate European laws, it is blackmail”.

Regarding the idea that companies from the EU should buy and pay for the gas directly at the Russian border, Altmaier told the FAZ that it was “a relatively new proposal”. But the transfer of Russian gas to European companies "is not subject to European regulation, so it is an issue for negotiations, especially between Russia, Ukraine and the EU and thus also Germany." Transits are introduced beyond the year 2024. On Monday it was agreed that Ukraine should submit its proposal in detail, then it would be examined. In the expected lengthy discussions about this with Russia's participation, “Germany is ready to mediate”.

The American Embassy in Kiev said of the tripartite talks that "we remain determined to counter attempts by the Kremlin to use energy as a geopolitical weapon." However, the new natural gas pipeline still has to be certified by the Federal Network Agency, a process that, as of last week, has not yet started and can take four months. At the same time, a process is already in progress between Nord Stream 2 and the Federal Network Agency, in which the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court is due to speak the verdict on Wednesday.

The Kiev Crimean summit took place on the day before the 30th anniversary of the independent Ukraine, which in 1991 broke away from the collapsing state association of the Soviet Union. In Kiev, the presidents of Poland, Hungary and the Baltic states recalled their own experiences with occupation and foreign rule. Members of the government from many Western European countries reaffirmed their promise to "never recognize" the annexation of Crimea. The US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said the sanctions imposed on Russia for annexation "will remain in force" as long as Russian intervention continues "in Crimea and eastern Ukraine". The EU Council Chairman Charles Michel also affirmed that "we as the EU do not recognize the annexation of Crimea, neither today nor tomorrow".The Crimean platform has "our strongest possible political support".