ОРЕАНДА-НОВОСТИ. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov commented on Washington's demands for Gazprom to increase gas transit through Ukraine to Europe. According to Peskov, the gas must first be sold so that it can be supplied to the counterparty.

"Gas is first sold, then it is extracted, only then it is transported, transited. It is impossible to transit gas without selling it," PRIME quotes Peskov.

Earlier, US State Department spokesman Amos Hochstein expressed concern about Gazprom's refusal to book additional volumes of gas transit through Ukraine for October and demanded that Russia increase gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine.

According to him, gas for heating homes in the European Union may run out prematurely this winter due to a lack of supplies and limited supplies from Russia. Hochstein also expressed concern that if the coming winter turns out to be colder than usual, then in some parts of Europe there may not be enough gas to heat homes and institutions.

He clarified that some European countries will be able to purchase additional volumes of gas at an inflated price, but others will have to save fuel. Hochstein also believes that Moscow, by reducing the volume of supplies, "is trying to use the current situation in favor of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project."