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Russia, EU, Ukraine set for gas talks
2009-01-16
MOSCOW, (AFP) - Russia and Ukraine were set for a new round of talks Saturday in a bid to resolve their gas dispute that has Europe struggling through winter without crucial gas supplies from the ex-Soviet giants. Russia pushed Friday for greater international involvement in resolving its dispute with Ukraine as Kiev sought to retake some of the diplomatic initiative, hosting officials from three of its European neighbors for talks on the gas crisis. It was unclear exactly what was to take place in Moscow on Saturday, although the Kremlin accredited reporters for unspecified media events and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was scheduled to return from Berlin to hold talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. EU Energy Commissioner Andries Pielbags and Czech Industry and Commerce Minister Martin Rima are expected to attend a summit on the Russia-Ukraine gas war in Moscow on Saturday afternoon, a spokesman for the Czech EU presidency, Tomas Bartovsky, told AFP. Russia has called on European leaders to attend the summit, but Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said the EU should speak with one voice. Croatian deputy prime minister Damir Polancec, Turkey's Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and deputy prime minister Nazim Ekren will also attend the meeting. Individual European governments have declined Russia's invitation to send their leaders to the Moscow "summit," with France saying notably that conditions would not be "ripe" until Russian gas flowed again through Ukraine. Topolanek said an "exhausted" EU was trying to avoid "European delegations travelling to Moscow as hostages or supplicants". In Kiev, a planned summit of eastern European leaders on the crisis was replaced with a "meeting" bringing together the president of Slovakia, the Moldovan prime minister and the Polish foreign minister, the latest twist in a chaotic story that has major ramifications for European energy security. Speaking in the Kremlin Friday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the dispute between Russia and Ukraine on gas prices and debt payment had become far more than a bilateral issue. "Unfortunately, this issue has gone beyond the bounds of bilateral relations," Medvedev said. "We are ready to look for any long-term solution. We hope Ukraine is ready to do the same and that our European partners will help bring about the necessary decisions." In Berlin, Putin went a step further, bluntly accusing the European Union of "de facto" support for Kiev. "The position of the European Union, which is putting Russia and Ukraine on a par, constitutes de facto support of Ukraine, which is violating its transit obligations," he told a press conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. France however rejected any European involvement in the standoff. "This conflict is a bilateral and commercial dispute which has led in an unjustified way to an interruption in supplies to the European Union," French foreign ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux said in Paris. Before talks with Putin, Merkel through a government spokesman criticised both Russia and Ukraine for failing to meet their commitments to Europe and urged the two to resolve their "bilateral problems" quickly. But Putin's idea for a consortium of international companies appeared to gather pace, with Merkel describing a "test phase" under discussion with European gas companies. The consortium would bear some of the disputed costs of gas transit central to the dispute. "I... spoke today with these companies, and I think there is a way, together with the companies (Russian) Gazprom and (Ukrainian) Naftogaz, to start a test phase" to resume gas imports, Merkel told reporters. Putin also tried to sound upbeat as Russian officials worked on the plan with companies such as E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany and Italy's ENI. He even sounded unusually conciliatory towards Ukraine, saying Moscow wanted to "help" Kiev and that "we should not look for those who are right and those who are wrong. We should not politicise the situation." The crisis that began on January 1 with Russia cutting supplies to Ukraine in a payment dispute has meant no gas getting through Ukraine to a swathe of countries in eastern Europe and the Balkans, which have in turn struggled with little or no heating and the forced shut-down of factories. The International Energy Agency said Russia's reputation as a reliable supplier had been damaged and lamented that due to lack of gas, "industries are being closed at a time of already poor economic conditions; domestic and other consumers are suffering real hardship." The crisis has cost EU states hundreds of millions of dollars (euros).
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