MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--Russia's gas monopoly OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) indirectly blamed the U.S. Tuesday for the gas spat between Russia and Ukraine. Gazprom's deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev said Ukraine, which didn't reopen its pipelines as planned for gas transit Tuesday morning, is "dancing to the music, which is being orchestrated not in Kiev but outside the country." He said he was referring to an agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. but said this is Gazprom's guess.
"We don't have all the details about the agreement," Medvedev told reporters during a conference call. "We do know that part of the agreement referred to gas transfer...we could make some guesses." Supplies to many European countries were cut off due to a pricing spat between Moscow at the beginning of the year. Gas transit destined for the Balkans, Turkey and Moldova was to restart Tuesday after Russia, Ukraine and the European Union singed an agreement Monday setting the terms of reference for teams of experts who will monitor Ukraine's gas-transit network. Medvedev said Ukraine failed to reopen its pipelines. "The door was as closed as before," he said. "And we didn't close the door."