Home › Opinion › Gas deal and sanctions: a two-sided weekend
Gas deal and sanctions: a two-sided weekend
Summary
A retrospective on the gas-related news reported around 22 December 2019, when a transit agreement and a pipeline setback landed within days of each other.
What did the final days before 22 December 2019 mean for Europe's gas map? Two items reported on 21 December pointed in different directions.
First, Russia and Ukraine reached a new five-year agreement on gas transit. For Kyiv, the deal set a framework for the transit of Russian gas across Ukrainian territory over the following five years.
Second, Nord Stream 2, the Russian gas pipeline to Europe, faced a setback. A contractor suspended pipe-laying work because of U.S. sanctions on the project. Nord Stream 2 responded by saying it would finish construction "as soon as possible".
Taken side by side, the two reports showed transit through Ukraine and the Nord Stream 2 route being discussed at the same moment. The transit agreement was announced as concluded, while the pipeline's completion was left open by the suspension of work, with the project's operator stating its intention to finish.
Looking back from 2026, the date is worth remembering as a point when both questions were live at once.
