European Commission officials fear the continent has yet to fully break away from further energy-crisis dangers, despite capacity-filled gas storage facilities and a mild winter, as a five-year bilateral pipeline gas transit agreement signed by Kyiv and Moscow in 2019, three years before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is set to expire at the end of this year and could lead to higher energy prices.

The agreement’s end would reduce the EU’s total gas imports by 5 percent, the European Commission has briefed Brussels officials in a memo, Politico has revealed. Countries in central and southeast Europe would be particularly affected, the memo notes.

Natural gas supply to EU member states has continued through this Ukrainian-Russian transit agreement, despite the ongoing war.

However, Ukraine has declared it does not intend to renew this agreement, which  facilitates Russian gas supply to Europe, while European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson has noted it is not in the EU’s interests to push for an extension.