Ukraine offers storage for European gas reserve

Ukraine has offered its underground natural gas storage facilities for European countries to accumulate a strategic fuel reserve as they try to wean off imports from Russia.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said his country has the largest underground storage facilities in Europe and is ready for the European Union to make use of it.
"Despite Russia's full-scale military aggression, Ukraine remains a strong and reliable partner of Europe in energy security," Halushchenko wrote on Facebook at the weekend.
Halushchenko welcomed the EU's move to disengage from Russian gas supplies and buy jointly from other suppliers in the wake of the invasion last month.
Ukraine could contribute to this solidarity by offering its storage facilities, he said.
EU leaders agreed last week to the voluntary joint purchase of gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen in an effort to push down prices for consumers in their respective countries.
The United States and other countries said they would supply more LNG to the EU.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised Qatar and other Gulf states as "reliable and solid suppliers of energy sources."
They could thus contribute to stabilizing the situation in Europe, he said in a video address to an economic forum in Doha on Saturday.
Zelensky also called on energy-producing countries to increase production. This way, no country can use energy as a weapon to blackmail the world, he continued.
Because of Russian war against Ukraine, Kiev is urging European countries to boycott energy supplies from Russia immediately.
However, Russian natural gas continues to flow westwards through the Ukrainian pipeline network to the EU.
It is believed that Moscow is continuing to pay Kiev for the transit fees, which has long been an important source of income.
Ukraine has covered its own gas needs with supplies from the EU for some time.