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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that plans for a controversial second underwater pipeline to bring gas from Russia could not go forward without Ukrainian involvement in overland transit.
`A Nord Stream 2 project without clarity about the Ukrainian transit role is not possible.` Merkel said. after talks in Berlin with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
The German leader said the pipeline plans. which have long thrown a wrench in bilateral ties. had played a big role in their discussions.
In an interview with German business daily Handelsblatt Monday. Poroshenko urged Berlin to abandon plans to build Nord Stream 2. saying it would enable an `economic and energy blockade` against Ukraine and blasting it as `political bribe money for loyalty to Russia`.
Merkel has long called Nord Stream 2 a purely `economic project` with no need for political intervention. Her comments mark a significant shift from that stance.
She said that in her talks with Poroshenko `I listened closely to the concerns of Ukraine`.
`The fact is that we cannot allow that. with Nord Stream 2. Ukraine would have no significance at all any more with regard to gas transit.` Merkel told reporters at a joint press conference.
She noted that while there would `always be dependence on Russian gas`. Ukraine relied heavily on income from transit fees.
The pipeline as planned would double the amount of Russian gas arriving in the European Union`s most powerful economy via the Baltic Sea — without transiting Ukraine — by late 2019.
Authorities in Germany issued the final permits needed for construction of Nord Stream 2 on its territory and in its waters to begin last month. although other nations` green lights are still needed.
But `the Ukrainian transit pipeline is much cheaper and can be modernised cheaply and easily.` Poroshenko insisted in the Handelsblatt interview.
He accused Russia of being an `extremely unreliable partner` in energy provision. pointing to state-owned energy firm Gazprom`s refusal to pay Ukraine billions of euros (dollars) after shutting off gas supplies in the middle of winter.
