{"id":293553,"date":"2025-04-21T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T11:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=293553"},"modified":"2025-04-18T10:29:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T09:29:51","slug":"us-demands-control-from-ukraine-of-key-pipeline-carrying-russian-gas-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/04\/us-demands-control-from-ukraine-of-key-pipeline-carrying-russian-gas-2\/","title":{"rendered":"US \u2018Demands Control\u2019 from Ukraine of Key Pipeline Carrying Russian Gas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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12 Apr 2025 – <\/em>The US has demanded control of a crucial pipeline in\u00a0Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0used to send Russian gas to Europe, according to reports, in a move described as a colonial shakedown.<\/p>\n

US and Ukrainian officials met yesterday to discuss White House proposals for a minerals deal<\/a>. Donald Trump wants Kyiv to hand over its natural resources as \u201cpayback\u201d in return for weapons delivered by the previous Biden administration.<\/p>\n

Talks have become increasingly acrimonious, Reuters said. The latest US draft is more \u201cmaximalist\u201d than the original version from February,\u00a0which proposed giving Washington $500bn worth<\/a>\u00a0of rare metals, as well as oil and gas.<\/p>\n

Citing a source close to the talks, the news agency said the most recent document includes a demand that the US government\u2019s International Development Finance Corporation take control of the natural gas pipeline.<\/p>\n

It runs from the town of Sudzha in western\u00a0Russia<\/a>\u00a0to the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod, about 750 miles (1,200km) away, on the border with the EU and Slovakia. Built in Soviet times, the pipeline is a key piece of national infrastructure and a major energy route.<\/p>\n

On 1 January, Ukraine\u00a0cut off the supply of gas<\/a>\u00a0when its five-year contract with the Russian state energy company Gazprom expired. Both countries had previously earned hundreds of millions of euros in transit fees, including during the first three years of full-scale war.<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Landa, a senior economist with the Centre for Economic Strategy, a Kyiv thinktank, said the Americans were out for \u201call they can get\u201d. Their\u00a0bullying \u201ccolonial-type\u201d demands<\/a>\u00a0had little chance of being accepted by Kyiv, he predicted.<\/p>\n

Last autumn, Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed giving the US access to Ukraine\u2019s underdeveloped mineral sector. He envisaged a deal that would see the incoming Trump administration supply Ukraine with weapons, in return for future profits from joint investments.<\/p>\n

Instead, Trump has refused to give security commitments or military support but wants the minerals anyway. Last week he complained Zelenskyy was trying to \u201cback out of an agreement\u201d and said Ukraine\u2019s president would have \u201cbig problems\u201d if he failed to sign.<\/p>\n

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Zelenskyy said he was ready to do a deal to modernise his country but that Ukraine could only agree if there was \u201cparity\u201d between the two sides, with revenues split \u201c50-50\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just defending what belongs to Ukraine. It should be beneficial for both the United States and Ukraine. This is the right thing to do,\u201d Zelenskyy said. The US Treasury confirmed \u201ctechnical\u201d talks were ongoing.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the US special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said his\u00a0remarks over a possible partition of Ukraine<\/a>\u00a0had been misinterpreted. In an interview with the Times, Kellogg said the country could be divided \u201calmost like the Berlin after world war two\u201d as part of a peace deal.<\/p>\n

Writing on X<\/a>, Kellogg said he was referring to \u201ca post-cease fire resiliency force in support of Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty\u201d. Under this plan, Russian troops would remain in territory already seized by Moscow, with British and French forces stationed in Kyiv and in other parts of the country.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. Witkoff\u2019s reported solution to the conflict was to give Russia the four Ukrainian provinces it is demanding \u2013 including territory that Ukraine controls, and which is home to 1 million people.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, at a meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group on Friday, Kyiv\u2019s allies\u00a0announced a record \u20ac21bn (\u00a318.2bn) in additional military<\/a>\u00a0help. They accused Putin of dragging his feet over a 30-day ceasefire deal which Ukraine has accepted.<\/p>\n

Early on Saturday, Russia carried out further air attacks against Ukrainian civilian targets.\u00a0Three warehouses were destroyed in Kyiv, with two people injured<\/a>. The Kremlin has fired 70 missiles and 2,200 drones at Ukraine since the 11 March US ceasefire proposal, Ukrainian officials said.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy\u00a0paid tribute<\/a> on today to a 26-year-old pilot, captain Pavlo Ivanov, who was killed during an F-16 combat mission. Ukraine\u2019s small air force \u201cheroically\u201d defends the country from Russian missiles and drones, and supported ground operations, he said.<\/p>\n

On 1 January, Ukraine\u00a0cut off the supply of gas<\/a>\u00a0when its five-year contract with the Russian state energy company Gazprom expired. Both countries had previously earned hundreds of millions of euros in transit fees, including during the first three years of full-scale war.<\/p>\n

Go to Original – defenddemocracy.press<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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