Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that there is no longer time to sign a new gas contract with Ukraine for deliveries to Europe before year-end, Reuters reports.
Putin blamed Ukraine for the end of the agreement.
“There is no contract, and it’s impossible to finalise one in three or four days,” Putin said during a televised briefing.
A gas transit contract between Russia and Ukraine, established in 2019, is set to expire at the end of December.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would no longer allow Russian gas to transit through Ukraine unless guarantees are provided that the Kremlin would not benefit financially while the war continues.
Several European countries, including the Czech Republic, Austria, and Slovakia, will stop receiving pipeline gas from Russia, and will have to rely on more expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Although this only represents a fraction of Europe’s natural gas supply, the stoppage has resulted in higher prices on an already nervous market.
Putin reiterated that Russia remained willing to supply gas to Europe via the Yamal pipeline in Poland.
Poland halted the gas transit contract through this route in 2022.
