Secretary General Rusnák reiterated that the ad hoc Contact Group was convened in accordance with the principles of the 1991 Energy Charter. Since the first meeting there had been no indications of any decrease in tensions surrounding the situation in Ukraine. Dr. Rusnák referred to the various developments in the last week and the statements from the international community, including the G7. The Secretary General emphasised the potential of the Energy Charter as a neutral platform for the discussion of the technical issues on energy. He had been contacted by many Energy Charter member states and observers in the course of the last week to express support for the efforts of the Secretariat.

The representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine each reiterated their commitment to ensuring energy security and reliable and stable energy supplies.

The representative of the European Commission (DG Energy), endorsed by the European External Action Service, referred to the statement of the European Council on Ukraine of 6 March 2014 and to the comprehensive assistance package presented by the Commission on 5 March 2014. The Commission and the External Action Service both continued to monitor the situation very carefully.

Having heard the contributions of the participants, Secretary General Dr. Rusnák proposed that having learned the lessons from the previous crises in 2006 and 2009, a system for collecting relevant data on the physical flow in gas, oil and electricity be put in place by the Energy Charter Secretariat for the benefit of the Contact Group discussions. This could be supported by the figures which were already available.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Kazakhstan (Chair of the Energy Charter Conference), the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the European Commission (DG Energy) and the European External Action Service. Secretary General Rusnák chaired the meeting. The Group will convene again on 25 March 2014.