Pellegrini: Germany Interested in How Oil Transit via Ukraine Will Be Addressed

Berlin, October 24 (TASR-correspondent) - Germany is interested in how the situation will be addressed after the Ukrainian government's announcement that it won't continue the transit contract for oil and gas from next year, President Petr Pellegrini said during his inaugural visit to Berlin after talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Ukraine announced at the end of August that it'll stop the operation of the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with Russian oil as of January 1, 2025. Prague has already stated that the possible stoppage of oil supplies via Ukraine from Russia won't be a problem for it. "If there's a total shutdown of supplies and transit from Ukraine, neither we nor other countries will be able to immediately replace the gas and oil flowing through the [Druzhba] corridor," stressed Pellegrini, adding that in his view, this will cause problems for Germany and other states, which would have to allocate part of their capacities to help the affected countries in solidarity. In this context, Pellegrini also discussed with Scholz his upcoming visit to Azerbaijan, where he'll hold talks with President Ilham Aliyev. As he said, he wants to confirm Slovakia's interest in finding a way to ensure energy security for Slovakia. According to the Slovak head of state, Scholz and Steinmeier agree that the stance of not entering into an economic war with China is "correct". The Slovak president pointed out that both Slovakia and Germany had spoken out against the introduction of "extreme" tariffs and duties on electric cars coming from China. If Beijing adopts reciprocal measures, there is a risk that this will also adversely affect the Slovak Volkswagen. He therefore called for caution. am/mcs