PALANGA, Lithuania (Reuters) – Germany has proposed setting up some sort of consortium to ensure that Ukraine retains its role as a transit country for Russian gas once the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is operational. German foreign minister Heiko Maas made the proposal, without giving details, during a meeting on Friday with his counterparts from Baltic countries, which oppose the pipeline. Germany has backed Nord Stream 2, which will run from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, but Chancellor Angela Merkel said last month that the project cannot go ahead without clarity on Ukraine’s role as a transit route for gas. “We are making intensive efforts to allow the transit of gas through Ukraine in the future,” Maas said after meeting the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia in Lithuania. “We are considering setting up a consortium to ensure that that is the case,” he said, […]