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Under the agreement announced on Wednesday by the United States
and Germany, Berlin pledged to respond to any attempt by Russia
to use energy as a weapon against Ukraine and other central and
eastern European countries.
The pact aims to mitigate what critics see as the strategic
dangers of the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, now 98%
complete, being built under the Baltic Sea to carry gas from
Russia's Arctic region to Germany.
"Russia has always been and remains a responsible guarantor of
energy security on the European continent, or I would even say
on a wider, global scale," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told
reporters.
Peskov also said the Kremlin disagreed with comments in the
agreement about countering Russian aggression and about Moscow's
allegedly malicious actions in Ukraine and beyond.
The U.S.-Germany deal includes a commitment to helping Ukraine
continue to receive transit fees, a major source of state
revenues, once Nord Stream 2 becomes operational. The current
transit deal between Russia and Ukraine ends in 2024.
Touching on this issue, Peskov said: "I also want to remind you
that President (Vladimir) Putin has repeatedly said Russia is
ready to discuss extending the gas transit deal via Ukraine
beyond 2024."
Ukraine's foreign minister said on Thursday Kyiv was seeking
stronger security guarantees on Nord Stream 2 and had formally
initiated consultations with the European Union and Germany.
Relations between Moscow and Kyiv deteriorated sharply after
Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula and its
support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Alexander Marrow;
Editing by Katya Golubkova and Gareth Jones)
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