OREANDA-NEWS. The next round of trilateral consultations between Russia, the EU and Ukraine on the conditions for the transit of Russian gas to Europe from 2020 will be held in Berlin on Thursday, it will discuss an agreement covering the duration, volumes and tariffs of a future transit contract, as well as the arbitration process between Gazprom and Naftogaz.

Previous tripartite consultations took place on October 28 in Brussels. Since then, the gas issue has been discussed more than once between the two countries, including for the first time at the level of leaders of the two countries. As a result of the presidential meeting, as the head of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky noted, it was possible to unblock the issue related to the transit of Russian gas.

At the same time, in spite of the emerging progress in the negotiation process, fundamental questions remain regarding the legal proceedings of Gazprom and Naftogaz and the conditions for the transit of blue fuel to Europe. In general, the positions remained unchanged: Moscow insists on the “nullification” of all legal proceedings, Kiev demands payment of compensations in any form, including gas.