The European Commission has canceled negotiations on gas transit through Ukraine

The European Commission canceled negotiations on gas transit through Ukraine, which were scheduled for January 7, due to the absence of Ukrainian representatives. This was announced by the Office of the Government of Slovakia, the TASR news agency reports.

"Taking into account the fact that the Ukrainian side will not participate in tomorrow's negotiations, the European Commission has decided to cancel the meeting. The European Commission is in cooperation with interested parties, but is looking for another date when the meeting could take place," the government said in a statement.

The Cabinet added that the main topic of the planned meeting in In Brussels, Ukraine was supposed to stop gas transit to Slovakia.

The five-year contract for the supply of Russian gas through Ukraine to Western and Central Europe expired on December 31. As stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kiev refused to extend it, although it received $ 700-800 million a year.

On January 1, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that stopping the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine would lead to severe consequences for the European Union. Now, Bloomberg writes, against the background of cold weather, Europe is using up gas reserves faster than in the previous seven years. The risk of a short-term price spike is increasing, analysts say.