EU officials reach out to Azerbaijan to discuss gas transit via Ukraine - media

BAKU. June 13 (Interfax) - European Union officials have approached Azerbaijan with a plan to ship gas to Europe via Ukraine, Politico reported, citing senior Azerbaijani officials.

"Azerbaijan has been reached out [to] by the European Union and the transit countries [that] we are talking about on the issue," Azerbaijani presidential aide and head of the Presidential Executive Office's foreign policy department Hikmet Hajiyev told the publication.

"Currently we are considering different options as to how we can contribute to that process. I would refrain from putting in a time frame, but again, there was [...] an appeal and we have taken it seriously because it's a matter of European energy security," Hajiyev added.

An Azerbaijani diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, in turn told the publication that "there is something happening on the issue." "We see some security of supply risks when it comes to the end of transit through Ukraine, due to existing infrastructure bottlenecks in the European gas system," he said.

Earlier this week, the Bloomberg news agency reported, citing sources, that a number of countries and companies in Europe are discussing how to secure continued gas supplies via Ukraine after the agreement with Russia is terminated this year. According to some sources, one of the options being discussed is for European companies to buy gas from Azerbaijan and ship it to Europe via Russian pipelines.