No more cheap Russian gas to Europe as contract expires

Decades-long arrangement ends, with Ukraine opting not to extend the deal

Russia's gas transit to Europe via Ukraine stopped on Wednesday, Moscow and Kyiv said, ending a decades-long arrangement and marking the latest casualty of the war between the neighbours.

Russian gas has been supplied to Europe via pipelines crossing Ukraine since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 in an arrangement that earned revenues for Moscow from the gas and for Kyiv from the transit fees.

The latest transit contract expired on Wednesday, with Ukraine opting not to extend the deal following Russia's 2022 invasion.

Kyiv hailed the end of Russian gas transit as a "historic event," and said it would deal a blow to Russia's finances and its war machine.

But Moscow casts it as Ukraine shooting itself in the foot and frustrating its partners in eastern Europe that rely on Russian supplies.

Slovakia, one of those countries, has slammed the move, but it has been welcomed by others inside the EU, including Poland.

Russian gas accounted for less than 10 percent of the European Union's gas imports in 2023 -- down from more than 40 percent before the war.