BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the European Union will meet on September 19 to discuss Russian gas supplies to Ukraine, the EU energy commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Monday.
Sefcovic said on Twitter he will host the next round of talks. "I am convinced that progress would send a strong positive signal to the market as well as consumers ahead of the winter season," Sefcovic said in his tweet.
Ukraine traditionally uses some of the gas pumped by Russia to European consumers for its own needs in eastern and central regions and then compensates for this by deliveries from gas storage located in the west of the country.
But the Russia-Ukraine gas transit agreement is due to expire in January and Ukrainian energy authorities are worried that Moscow could stop gas supplies through Ukraine, leaving some Ukrainian regions without gas in winter.