Ukraine in Arabic | Russia intends to cut off gas supplies through Ukraine this winter
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Wednesday that Kiev knew of plans by Russia to halt gas flows this winter to Europe, in comments which are likely to escalate the standoff between Moscow and the West.
"We know about the plans of Russia to cut off transit even in European Union member countries. That's why their [Russian] companies were ordered to maximally pump gas to the storehouses on the territory of Europe," he said before the beginning of a sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday, 27 on August.
The PM added that Ukraine had accumulated in its underground gas storages nearly 15 billion cubic meters of gas and now deals with diversification of coal supplies to the country, "since the Russian Federation and its mercenaries bomb and destroy the coalmines in which we extract energy coal."
Besides, Yatsenyuk reported that Ukraine hopes for continuation of the talks and consultations in three-party format Ukraine-EU-Russia to address energy concerns.
Also he said the government has been trying to diversify coal supplies as "Russia and their mercenaries are bombing and destroying mines."
Russia has denied any involvement in the conflict.