Kremlin Sees No Reason for Ukraine to Be Hysterical About Russian-Hungarian Gas Contract

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow does not see any reasons for Ukraine to be hysterical about the Russian-Hungarian gas supplies contract, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

The Hungarian government and Gazprom signed a contract for supplies of 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually until the end of 2036. Kiev expressed disappointment with the contract to supply gas bypassing Ukraine, saying this undermines positive trends in relations with Hungary. Kiev plans to appeal to the European Commission.

"[Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin has expressed readiness to continue [gas] transit via Ukraine after 2024 in case if there are the relevant economically profitable and reasonable conditions. There is absolutely no place for criticism and there should not be such hysterical reactions," Peskov told reporters.

The official recalled that Moscow had repeatedly confirmed readiness to discuss the continuation of direct gas purchases by Ukraine.

Commenting on the Russian-Hungarian contract, he said that the deal was concluded on the most favourable economic conditions, noting this is already a commercial issue for Gazprom.

"There are no banned routes to transit [gas]," he added.

The sharp reaction of the Ukrainian authorities to Hungary's long-term gas supplies contract with Russian gas giant Gazprom does not require any retaliatory actions, Peskov said.

"Such a reaction does not require any retaliatory actions. We are implementing our bilateral relations with Hungary. We are talking about a long-term contract, which, in fact, will guarantee reliable, predictable, regular supplies of the blue fuel to Hungary along the guaranteed, economically profitable routes," Peskov told reporters.

The spokesman noted that the contract did not violate anyone's rights and international norms.

"Nobody's rights are violated here, no norms of international trade are violated here, and hardly any country, including Ukraine, has the right to interfere in this aspect of the Russian-Hungarian relations," Peskov added.

Earlier in the day, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry reportedly summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over Kiev's reaction to Budapest's decision to sign a long-term gas supplies contract with Gazprom. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, for its part, summoned the Hungarian ambassador in order to explain Kiev's position.

On Monday, Budapest and Russia's Gazprom signed a new contract on supplies of 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Hungary over the next 15 years. Of that, 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas will be delivered through Serbia and 1 billion cubic meters via Austria. The agreement comes into force on 1 October. Terms can be changed after 10 years.

Gazprom Ready For New Long-Term Contracts With Europe

Russian energy giant Gazprom is ready to consider new long-term contracts with increased volumes of supplies to meet Europe's gas demand, Peskov said.

"We are, of course, following the developments on the spot market in Europe. Experts are absolutely clear about the factors that put pressure on the price, leading to such intermittent growth. These are objective factors, we will all have to deal with them further. In turn, we have already said that, these days, Gazprom is close to a historic record in terms of the volume of natural gas supplies to European consumers," Peskov told reporters.

"Gazprom ... is ready to consider new contracts, long-term contracts, with increased volumes [of supplies] to meet the increasing gas demand of European consumers," he added.