Page 7 - UKRRptSept21

including all the Nato members, attended both back-to-back events at the level of foreign minister or above and made strong statements of solidarity. While the Crimea Platform is unlikely to change anything, it was a major PR coup and very embarrassing for the Kremlin which issues an angry statement rebuking Ukraine for its “blatantly anti-Russia” provocation and reasserted Russia’s sovereignty over the Crimea.
However, in pragmatic terms Ukraine took a major blow after Germany signed off on the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that is all but complete. Zelenskiy met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Kyiv two days after she met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and is clearly trying to thrash out some compromise deal. However, she is not in a position to promise Zelenskiy anything, who is clearly becoming very frustrated with the weak support Ukraine is getting from its western partners. Merkel is offering a compromise and says Germany is prepared to fund heavy investment into renewable energy, but Kyiv is focused on the $2bn transit fees it will almost certainly lose after the current transit deal with Gazprom expires in 2024 than money the country may earn in the future if it invests in solar and wind now.
7 UKRAINE Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com