MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is ready to hold talks with the European Union on natural gas supplies as a transit deal with Ukraine expires at the end of 2024, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying by several news agencies on Saturday.
Under a five-year deal agreed between Moscow and Kyiv in 2019, Russia is exporting gas to Europe via Ukraine and pays Ukraine for the usage of its pipeline network.
The arrangement has continued despite the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in February 2022, although Russian gas deliveries to Europe have plummeted since then.
Earlier this week, various media outlets cited Ukraine's government as saying that Kyiv will not seek talks with Moscow on the possibility of extending the gas transit agreement.
"If the other party [EU] wishes, we are ready to discuss. So far we don't see such a desire," Novak was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.
A European Union official on Friday declined to speculate on whether the Ukraine transit deal would be extended beyond the end of 2024, but said the bloc was assessing all scenarios to ensure its preparedness.
The conflict in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a special military operation, prompted a European drive to replace Russian fuel with alternative supplies and renewable energy.
But the Kremlin-controlled gas pipeline exporting monopoly Gazprom still continues shipping gas via Ukraine.
(Editing by Clelia Oziel)
