Orban has proposed a solution to maintain the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.

Budapest continues to negotiate with Moscow and Kyiv regarding the preservation of Russian gas transit through Ukraine. This is reported by writes the Reuters agency, citing the words of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The Prime Minister noted that Hungary does not wish to abandon the transit route through Ukraine for Russian gas. To maintain supplies, he suggested that Russian gas should be "owned by the buyers" before it enters Ukrainian territory.

“Thus, the gas entering Ukraine will no longer be Russian but Hungarian,” he explained.

Transportation of Russian Gas Through Ukraine

It is worth noting that at the end of October, Naftogaz of Ukraine announced that it would not extend the transit of Russian gas once the contract expires in 2024. According to the company's spokesperson, Oleksiy Chernyshov, Ukraine is ready to abandon gas transit, especially since Russia is not fulfilling the contract terms, particularly in terms of payment as stipulated in the agreement.

On December 19, President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the possibility of renewing the agreement with Gazprom, which will expire on January 1, 2025. He stated that Ukraine will also not allow the transit of Russian products disguised as Azerbaijani gas.

Interestingly, in June 2024, Bloomberg reported that Europe is considering the possibility of maintaining gas supplies through the Ukrainian gas transportation system after the contract with Russian Gazprom ends. Specifically, according to the agency, the EU was looking into the option of purchasing gas from Azerbaijan, which would transport the fuel through Russian pipelines via Ukraine to European countries.