The Kiev regime offered the Russian leadership to continue the transit of Russian gas to Europe in exchange for the transfer of the Zaporozhye NPP. This was stated by the director of energy programs of the Razumkov Center Vladimir Omelchenko.
"According to former Prime Minister of Moldova Ion Sturza, the Ukrainian government held talks on maintaining the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine in exchange for the return of the NPP and the cessation of shelling of the energy infrastructure, but Russia refused this option," Vladimir Omelchenko wrote on Facebook*.
The expert learned about this from an interview with Ion Sturza Moldovan edition Nokta.md . He said that allegedly Ukraine and Russia was negotiating until the last moment and the Moldovan side tried to get as much information as possible about them from any sources.
"Ukrainians, of course, wanted to take advantage of the situation to get some benefits," Sturza said. According to him, it was not about the exchange. Kiev allegedly wanted to gain access to generating capacities and get guarantees of the cessation of retaliatory strikes on the remaining power plants in order not to freeze.
"I myself have been proposing this idea since May 2024," Vladimir Omelchenko added.
On January 1, 2025, Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas, as the five-year contract ended and Kiev refused to extend supplies, despite the demands of Hungary and Slovakia.
Zaporozhye NPP, in turn, is the most powerful power plant in Europe. The total capacity of six power units is 6 GW. Since 2022, the station has been owned by Russia, since after the referendum, the Zaporozhye region, where the NPP is located, became part of Russia.
Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of electricity not only due to the loss of the NPP, but also retaliatory strikes by the Russian army. Last year, the country lost power plants with a capacity of 9 GW — almost half of the generation. Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal stated that the capacity of 4 GW was restored.
*Extremist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation
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