Merkel in Kyiv discusses gas and Donbas

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Kyiv on
Aug. 22 for a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. The two discussed issues
including Russian gas shipments after 2024 and the Minsk agreements,
reuters.com reported on the same day.

Regarding gas, Merkel claimed that gas transport
should not be used as a weapon, and that Russia would be subject to sanctions
if it did so. At the joint press briefing after their meeting, Zelensky said
that gas was a weapon, and that the promises for action after 2024 were too
vague.

Merkel also pushed for the resumption of the stalled
Minsk discussions regarding the fighting in Donbas.

The meeting with Zelensky comes after Merkel met with
Russian president Putin in Moscow. Talks there focused largely on the same
issues, bloomberg.com reported.

James Hydzik: Bloomberg
also stated that Merkel becomes a caretaker chancellor “after Sept. 26”. As
such, her departure from the stage, in part through this visit, will be less
important than the work of special envoy Georg Graf Waldersee, who helped
negotiate the Ukraine current gas transit contract, and his American
counterpart, Amos Hochstein. Waldersee’s subject matter expertise is likely to
be a factor keeping him in this position after the Sep. 26 German federal
elections, which Merkel’s Christian Democrats are expected to lose.