Kyiv, Jan 1 Ukraine on Wednesday stopped the transit of Russian natural gas to Europe following the expiration of a five-year transportation agreement, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said.
"At 07:00 am (0500 GMT), in the interests of national security, the transportation of Russian natural gas through the territory of Ukraine was stopped," the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine has notified its international partners of the termination of the gas transit in line with the established procedures, the statement said.
The Ukrainian gas transportation system has been prepared in advance to operate in a zero transit mode, ensuring reliable gas supply to Ukrainian consumers, it said.
Earlier in the day, Russian energy giant Gazprom said that it has stopped gas supply for transit through Ukraine due to expiration of key agreements and the lack of renewal by the Ukrainian side.
The agreements, signed on December 30, 2019, included a contract between Gazprom and Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz on the transportation of Russian gas through the Ukrainian territory, and a cooperation agreement between the operators of the two countries' gas transmission systems. These agreements officially expired at 8 am Moscow time (0500 GMT) Wednesday, Gazprom said on Telegram.
Gazprom said Ukraine had repeatedly and unequivocally refused to extend these agreements, leaving the Russian company without the technical and legal means to continue gas transit through Ukraine.
Consequently, the supply of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory stopped at 8 am Moscow time Wednesday, it added, Xinhua news agency reported.
Last year, Ukraine transported 15.43 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe, up 5.7 per cent from 2023, according to media reports.
Last month, the Russian government had warned that the transit of Russian gas to European countries is currently "very difficult" and requires attention.
"You have heard the statement from the Ukrainian side, and you know about the position of those European countries that continue to buy Russian gas and that consider it necessary for the normal operation of their economies,"
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on December 23 after a meeting between Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow where the parties discussed the transit of Russian gas as Ukraine declined to renew a gas transit deal with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said at a European Union Summit that he will not extend Ukraine's five-year gas transportation deal with Russia, which expires at the end of 2024.
The move had raised concern for Slovakia, which has a long-term contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom. Although Putin confirmed Russia's readiness to continue supplying gas to the West and to Slovakia, Fico said this was "practically impossible" once the gas transit agreement expires at the end of the year.
The resumption of gas transit would be only possible at the request of the European Commission and if Ukraine transports non-Russian gas, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency had reported in December, citing Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
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