Azerbaijan wants to act as a mediator in the issue of continuing the transit of gas from Russia to the European Union through Ukraine. Negotiations are underway with the Russian leadership, as well as with the Ukrainian authorities and the EU on the continuation of supplies after the expiration of the current contract, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a conference in the city of Shusha. Extension of the contract is possible, he noted. “We will help if we can,” the Azerbaijani leader added. Aliyev stressed that the European Union and Ukraine turned to Baku with a request to facilitate the negotiations. The contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine was concluded for 5 years and expires on December 31, 2024. Ukrainian authorities previously stated that they do not intend to renew the agreement. At the same time, Kyiv expressed its readiness to continue transit under certain conditions and with the participation of companies from the EU. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, gas imports from Russia to the European Union have largely ceased. However, some EU states in Central Europe still depend on Russian raw materials, which transit through Ukrainian territory. In particular, it is along this route that a significant part of the gas purchased by Austria goes. Such countries would face "serious problems" if transit through Ukraine were stopped, as they would have to pay "hundreds and hundreds of millions" more to buy gas from other suppliers, Aliyev said. Baku is trying to act "cautiously" because it has been wrongly accused in the past of re-exporting Russian gas, the Azerbaijani president added. Now the annual volume of gas transit from the Russian Federation to the EU via Ukraine is about 15 billion cubic meters, notes Reuters. In 2022, this figure reached 150 billion cubic meters.