EU, Russia, Ukraine to hold energy security meeting

BRUSSELS - The next trilateral ministerial meeting between the European Union (EU), Russia and Ukraine on energy security will take place on Sept 26, 2014 in Berlin, the EU announced Monday in a statement.

The three sides will be represented by the European Commission Vice-President Gunther Oettinger, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan respectively at the meeting.

The announcement came after European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the energy situation during a phone conversation on Sept 15.

The EU is heavily dependent on Russia, from whom it imports a third of its oil needs, 39 percent of gas and 26 percent of solid fuels, according to official EU statistics. Furthermore, six EU countries depend on Russia for 100 percent of their gas imports.

Russia has halted gas flows to Ukraine, a major transit route for EU gas supply, since June this year over price disputes with Kiev.