Russia and Ukraine in EU-backed talks to avoid fresh 'gas wars'

Officials from Moscow and Kiev were set to gather in Berlin today for EU-backed talks on the future of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine in a bid to minimise disputes when the current contract expires next year.

Russian gas giant Gazprom has already dramatically reduced the volume of gas transiting via the country, as Moscow and Kiev remain at loggerheads over the annexation of Crimea and simmering conflict in the east of Ukraine.

Kiev fears the loss of revenue from transit taxes, on top of being bypassed politically as well as physically by new gas pipes.

The meeting will bring together delegations from Gazprom and its Ukrainian counterpart Naftogaz, which have been locked in legal battles for years.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin will also be present.

"It is clear that time is of the essence. The negotiations that lie ahead of us are complex," said European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic ahead of the talks.

The meeting will focus on Gazprom's plan to construct and put into operation by the end of next year the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which would bring gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.

The pipeline will follow the track of the existing Nord Stream 1 and will double the amount of Russian gas arriving in the European Union's most powerful economy via this route.

Germany has long insisted this is a purely "commercial" project and in March lifted the final obstacles to its construction.

But the following month German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered an unexpected blow to Moscow's strategic initiative, insisting Ukraine should continue to play a key role in the transit of gas to Europe.

"There are also political factors to take into consideration," Merkel said at a joint press conference in Berlin with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the time.

"(Nord Stream 2) is not possible without clarity regarding the transit role of Ukraine," she said.

For his part, the Ukrainian president said the project was "absolutely political".

"Why spend tens of billions of dollars to make the European economy less efficient, less competitive and the energy politics of the EU more dependent on Russia?"