The EU Commissioner for Energy, Gunther Oettinger, insisted Thursday that Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline, supported by Russian group Gazprom, could operate in the European Union exclusively under European rules, writes Ria Novosti, quoted by Agerpres.

The EU executive has already announced that South Stream does not comply with the decision prohibiting gas suppliers to control the access to natural gas pipelines, and after the annexation of Crimea by Russia put the approval on hold.

“We must say in a single voice that South Stream can exist, but according to our rules,” Gunther Oettinger said. On Friday, Oettinger is expected to meet with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak to discuss future Russian gas deliveries to Europe.

“Safe transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine, legal and technical aspects of the South Stream project, Gazprom’s access to the full capacity of the OPAL pipeline and issues related to the continuation of the Russia-EU Energy Dialogue will become the main topics for the discussion,” the Russian Energy Ministry said in a statement.

The issue about future gas transfers from Russia to the European Union arose as the Ukrainian crisis escalated. On June 16, Russian gas giant Gazprom introduced a prepayment system for gas deliveries to Ukraine amid a dispute with Kiev over its gas debt. In 2013, the Ukrainian pipeline network provided transit for 65 of the 133 billion cubic meters of Russian gas purchased by EU countries.

The South Stream pipeline will go from Russia to Bulgaria under the Black Sea. In Bulgaria will branch north through Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Austria, and south to Greece and southern Italy. The submarine section between Russia and Bulgaria will be 900 km long. Pipeline construction began in December 2012; the first deliveries to Europe are scheduled for December 2015.