US demands control over key Ukraine gas pipeline, sparking accusations of "colonial extortion"

The United States has demanded control over a major gas pipeline transporting Russian natural gas through Ukraine to Europe.

The request has sparked outrage among Ukrainian experts, who have described the move as a form of “colonial extortion,” Caliber.Az reports, citing The Guardian.

According to sources, US and Ukrainian officials met on Friday to discuss a new proposal from the White House regarding a minerals-related deal. This latest draft is said to be significantly more ambitious than the version negotiated in February, which had focused on granting the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth metals, oil, and gas resources estimated to be worth around $500 billion.

Reuters, citing a source close to the negotiations, reports that the revised deal now includes a clause demanding that control over a strategic gas pipeline be handed to the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). This Soviet-era pipeline runs roughly 1,200 kilometers from the Russian city of Sudzha to Uzhhorod, near Ukraine's border with Slovakia. Despite its age, the pipeline remains a critical part of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and a key transit route for Russian gas exports to Europe.

Ukraine ceased operations on this route after the expiration of its five-year contract with Russia’s Gazprom on January 1. The transit had previously generated hundreds of millions of euros in revenue for both Kyiv and Moscow, even during active conflict.

Volodymyr Landa, a senior economist at the Centre for Economic Strategy, criticized the U.S. approach, claiming Washington is “trying to take everything it can,” and compared the aggressive demands to colonial-era tactics. He expressed doubt that Kyiv would agree to such terms.

The U.S. Treasury Department acknowledged that “technical” talks were ongoing but declined to disclose specific details.

Meanwhile, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Keith Kellogg issued a clarification after his earlier comments, published in The Times, sparked controversy. Kellogg had suggested that Ukraine could be divided “almost like Berlin after World War II” as part of a potential peace settlement.

In a later post on social media platform X, he explained that he was referring to a model involving international forces tasked with safeguarding Ukrainian sovereignty after a ceasefire. Under this plan, Russian forces would remain in occupied areas, while British and French troops could be deployed to Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions.

By Khagan Isayev