On the 6th of December 2016 during his visit to Brussels the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin conducted a meeting with the European Commissioner VP for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič.
The parties have coordinated the stance of Ukraine and the EU in advance of the trilateral gas talks between Ukraine, EU and Russia which are set to be held on the 9th of December in Brussels.
They have also discussed the deepening of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, in particular in the area of reforming the energy sector and in the context of the renewed Memorandum of mutual understanding concerning the Strategic Energy Partnership between Ukraine and the EU.
P.Klimkin urged the European Commission to adhere to the solidarity principle with Ukraine and prevent politically motivated construction of alternative pipelines bypassing Ukraine.
The EC confirmed readiness to continue cooperation with Ukraine as a reliable gas transit-state to Europe and noted that aligning the Ukrainian energy sector with the Third Energy Package provides additional opportunities in this context.
During his visit to Brussels the Minister has also met with the leaders of the European Parliament’s political groups and the Secretary General of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid.
Besides that, Pavlo Klimkin took part in the debates regarding the illegal occupation of Crimea and the violation of human rights there. The event was organized by the European Conservatives and Reformists. The participants included the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev, Chairman of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov, Head of the Mission of Ukraine to the EU Mykola Tochytskyi, members of the European Parliament.