Germany to join Russia and Ukraine in gas venture talks

Germany is to join Russia and Ukraine in talks over a planned gas pipeline consortium in February, Ukrainian secretary of state for foreign affairs Oleksandr Chaliy said.
"We expect the first meeting of (the) trilateral German-Ukrainian-Russian group will take place in early February," he said.

Russia and Ukraine discussed the issue in talks between Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yanukovych.
Germany is to join the talks after Ukraine and Russia officially register a 50-50 consortium in January. Ukrainian gas pipelines channel 110 bn cm of Russian gas to Europe each year.