Ukraine’s claim to Crimea should not be linked to gas talks - Oettinger

The European Union has recommended Kiev not to link Ukraine’s claims to Crimea’s gas reserves with the three-party talks on repayment of Ukraine’s debt for Russian gas supplies, European Commissioner for Energy Guenther Oettinger said on May 28, ITAR-TASS has reported.

With Crimea’s secession, Ukraine assessed that it incurred losses of billions of dollars, Oettinger said. He said this is a legal position Europe can support, adding that the EU believes Crimea’s accession to Russia is unacceptable, but warned that inclusion of the Crimean issue in the gas talks may deadlock them.

The energy commissioner said Ukraine’s financial claims against Russia on Crimea, including via the Stockholm Arbitration Institute, may take many months to deal with.

Oettinger said that is why the EU is calling on Ukraine not to peg the issue to the current three-party gas talks and not try to resolve it within the next few days or weeks.

Copyright: ITAR-TASS, 2014