European Union leaders kept up pressure Wednesday on Russia and Ukraine
to resolve their gas dispute after an attempt to resume transit supply
failed to deliver gas to European consumers.
As hundreds of thousands of Europeans begin a second week with little
or no heat in their homes, offices or schools, Bulgarian Prime Minister
Sergey Stanishev and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico were due in
Moscow to meet with their Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the gas
crisis.
Both countries are among those to have been badly hit by the gas
crisis, which has continued despite E.U. efforts to broker a solution.
The Ukrainian government said in a statement that the two European
prime ministers would also visit Kiev later Wednesday for talks with
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Russia resumed natural gas supplies Tuesday after international experts
were placed along the pipeline route through Ukraine under an agreement
reached with the E.U., only to shut them off again several hours later.
OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) accused Ukraine of blocking the gas, while
Ukraine countered that the Russian energy giant had deliberately routed
the gas in a way that made it impossible for Ukraine to pump it on to
European consumers.
European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso expressed the "E.U.'s
disappointment" in a phone conversation with Russian Prime Minister
Putin after the E.U. reported "little or no gas" reaching Europe from
Russia.
Russia initially cut off supplies for Ukraine on New Year's Day after a
dispute over late payments and a failure to agree on a price for 2009,
but last week shut off all supplies after accusing Kiev of siphoning
off gas transiting the country to Europe.
Ukraine has hotly contested accusations it has stolen gas, and the E.U.-brokered monitor deal was meant to overcome this issue.
The Russian daily Kommersant meanwhile said Moscow had won some support in Europe.
"Russia managed to secure two official allies," Italy and Romania, the paper said.
"The group of Russia's supporters may increase" after the Slovak and Bulgarian prime minister meet Putin, it added.