Can Russia's gas transit through Ukraine continue disguised as fuel from other countries?

He shared his opinions on Espreso TV.

"It’s impossible to deceive about the origin of gas volumes, especially when we're talking about billions of cubic meters. While it might be possible to mislead people, the source of the gas is always clear. You can always trace where it comes from," he said.

Kharchenko also pointed out that Russia’s Gazprom is in a difficult financial situation, stressing the need to put further pressure on the company.

"To be honest, I don’t believe Russia would allow any gas volumes to pass through its territory just to be transported to Europe under the guise of coming from another country. Gazprom is in terrible financial shape. Russia has already raised domestic gas tariffs by 28% and announced another 30% increase. Yet, they remain unprofitable and in bad financial condition. We have to defeat them completely," he emphasized.

• Imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union have reached a record high this year, despite the bloc's efforts to reduce its gas dependency on Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.