There is much to declare on the completion of the recent talks about gas in Brussels in the Ukraine-Russia-EU format. But to cut a long story short: Ukraine has lost everything it could and what it could not. It was a complete capitulation to the Russian Federation in the presence of a witness from the EU.
In particular:
- We have admitted the incomprehensible debt of over 5 billion US dollars. Earlier had been voiced different figures. We have agreed to pay by the end of the year more than 3 billion US dollars. Now all those involved in yesterday's surrender may consider themselves sponsors of the Russian military operations in the East of Ukraine, in particular, concerning killing of Ukrainian citizens.
- The RF had lived to Ukrainian agreeing to "pull" the gas issue from the context of trade and economic Ukrainian-Russian relations. Including, in 1992, Moscow's stealing through Sberbank of the USSR all Ukrainian savings (which is over 130 billion US dollars!).
- We have no explanation as to why the price for Ukraine is higher than the market price of Russian gas for European consumers under long-term contracts.
- The main thing is that having signed this gas set of documents, Ukraine has agreed (and the EU does not deny) to continue to live without cutting gas consumption. That is, everybody has agreed to preserve the Soviet system on the territory of Ukraine.
