Russia is ready to supply gas to Europe via several routes, Novak said

The Russian side is ready to continue supplying fuel to the European Union (EU) via other routes given that Ukraine has banned Russian gas transit through its territory since January. This was stated by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak on 25 December.

He added that as of today this issue has not been resolved yet, but it is absolutely clear that the EU residents are interested in continuing cooperation.

"It depends primarily on the agreement of the EU and Kiev on the possibility of such supplies. We, in turn, have always stated that we are ready to continue supplying gas not only through the existing branch, there are a number of other routes," Novak said during an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Deputy Prime Minister specified that the situation with gas reserves in Europe is tense, and after Russia stops its supplies, it will worsen even more. Currently, liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facilities are now 3-5% less full than the average for the last five years.

Strike from Qatar: Gulf country threatened to halt gas flow to EU

Qatari gas producers could lose billions of euros due to new EU ESG directive

Earlier, on December 20, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo would soon meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Ukraine's refusal to transit gas through the country. The Serbian leader also said that Russia had met Serbia and Hungary on the issue of payment for gas supplies through Bulgaria.

In his turn, Fitzo said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (term of office expired on May 20) had set a condition that he would agree to transit gas through the country if Russia did not pay for the fuel until the end of the conflict. The Slovak prime minister said that such a proposal seemed absurd to him, as no one would supply gas for free, and Ukraine thus completely excludes the possibility of transit.

Before that, on December 18, Fitzo urged Europe to find a way to continue gas transit through Ukraine, because Bratislava risks losing annual revenue of €500 million ($525 million) from transit fees, and Kiev risks losing transit routes in general.

Back in November, Novak said European countries were interested in continuing gas transit from Russia through Ukraine. However, Kiev continues to be an unreliable energy transporter, which puts the countries that need the cheap environmental resource in a difficult situation. In turn, Stanislav Mitrakhovich, a leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, said that Russian LNG exports may continue to grow at the end of 2024.