Medvedev to meet EU officials after gas agreement breakdown

Kyrgyzstan News.Net
Monday 12th January, 2009

The president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, has called off the agreement over gas supplies between Russia and Ukraine.

On Saturday, the two countries agreed that Russia would restart its supply of natural gas when European Union observers arrived in Ukraine.

The observers were to monitor the amount of gas flowing into Ukraine from Russia, to compare it with the amount being sent on to Europe.

Observers would have ensured that Ukraine was not siphoning gas for its own use.

But Mr Medvedev has said Ukraine has made several changes to the agreement which are unacceptable to Moscow.

While it is not yet known what the changes are, a delegation will be sent to Brussels on Monday to discuss the situation with the EU.

The halting of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine has left hundreds of thousands of people in Eastern and Central Europe without heating.

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