Kiev gas dispute... accused the United States of pulling the strings.

Kiev refuses to accept Russian gas intended for Europe - Gazprom
MOSCOW, January 14 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz refused to accept Russian natural gas for transit to Europe for a second day, Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom said on Wednesday. Gazprom said it filed another application with Naftogaz on Wednesday for the transit of 98.8 million cubic meters of gas, including 13.9 million intended for Moldova, 62.7 billion for the Balkan states, and 22.2 million for Slovakia. Russia, which has accused Ukraine of tapping gas bound for Europe, resumed shipments after a weeklong cutoff on Tuesday after a EU-led team of monitors was deployed at gas metering stations in Ukraine. However, Gazprom said later in the day Kiev was blocking the shipments. The monopoly said on Wednesday it had requested the transits via the Sudzha gas entry point on the Russian border, an export pipeline with direct access to the nations affected by the dispute, including Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. Naftogaz in turn demanded transit via other entry points, used mainly for gas intended for domestic consumption, and the replenishment of gas reserves to 140 million cu m, Gazprom said. Ukraine has claimed that Russia has not sent enough "technical gas" to maintain the pressure necessary to send the required volumes to Europe. Kiev also said that Moscow had demanded gas for Europe be sent along a complicated route that would require Ukraine to cut off supplies to its own people. "Naftogaz's repeated refusals prove that Ukraine is unable to replenish gas reserves it has siphoned off and resume transits. Gazprom is prepared to restart supplies for European consumers at any moment," the Russian energy giant said. The Naftogaz chief rejected on Wednesday Russia's claims that Ukraine had illegally siphoned off its gas, saying the company had transited 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas to Moldova.

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Gazprom's Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev accused the United States of pulling the strings. "It looks like ... they(Ukraine) are dancing to the music which is being orchestrated not in Kiev but outside the country," he said.

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine face another day of sparring over gas supplies on Wednesday and two European Union states launched fresh diplomacy to end a dispute that has left their economies without Russian gas for one week.Russia began pumping gas meant for Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday, but the EU said little or no gas was flowing to countries suffering urgent energy shortages.Russia accused Ukraine of shutting off gas to Europe, but Kiev said there was not enough pressure in the pipeline system.The crisis has disrupted supplies to some 18 countries at the height of winter, shutting down dozens of factories in southeast Europe.Two of the worst hit EU states, Bulgaria and Slovakia, sent their prime ministers to Moscow and Kiev in a fresh effort to get gas supplies restored.Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was in Kiev on Wednesday for talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, said the country had 11 days of gas reserves left."After 12 days, we will be obliged to resort to measures never seen in our history. May I simply ask how long this will go on?" he told Tymoshenko.But Tymoshenko said her country could do little to help. "Ukraine does not have sufficient gas. We do not have our own supplies," she told Fico.Fico is due in Moscow later to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin alongside Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Moldovan Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanii.Stanishev is under pressure to secure supplies for his country of 7.6 million people as limited domestic reserves are dwindling and anger among Bulgarians is mounting against his Socialist-led government.Slovakia, which has a population of 5.4 million and gets almost all its gas from Russia, declared a state of emergency on January 6, under which gas deliveries to large clients were reduced. About 1,000 companies were forced to shut or cut production.A deal brokered by the EU, which gets a quarter of its gas from Russia, had been intended to get supplies moving on Tuesday, with international monitors in place to ensure that Ukraine was not siphoning off any gas, as Moscow has alleged.Russian state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom declared force majeure on gas exports to Europe on Tuesday, meaning circumstances beyond its control prevented it from meeting its obligations to clients.Gazprom is demanding Kiev hand over $614 million for unpaid gas bills and pay $450 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas in 2009. That is similar to rates paid by EU customers but a big rise on last year's price of $179.5. Analysts in Kiev say Ukraine, saddled with debt and hard hit by the global slowdown, cannot afford that price

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International monitors confirm Kiev blocking gas transit- Gazprom
MOSCOW, January 14 (RIA Novosti) - International monitors have confirmed that Ukraine has blocked the transit of Russia's Europe-bound natural gas supplies through its territory, the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has said. Russia, which has accused Ukraine of tapping gas intended for Europe, resumed shipments after a weeklong cutoff on Tuesday after a EU-led team of monitors was deployed at gas metering stations in Ukraine. However, the transit gas did not reach Europe. "Members of the international monitoring commission in Kiev... have signed a report from gas control stations, which shows that no Russian gas has been pumped through Ukraine's transit pipelines toward Europe," Gazprom said late on Tuesday, adding that meters in Russia's Kursk Region on the border with Ukraine showed gas was being pumped. Ukraine has denied stealing gas, claiming instead that Russia has not sent enough "technical gas" to maintain the pressure necessary to send the required amounts of energy to Europe. Kiev also said that Moscow had demanded gas for Europe be sent along a complicated route that would require Ukraine to cut off supplies to its own people. Gazprom said on Monday that Ukraine should either use its own "technical" gas, or buy it if the company lacks its own resources. Gazprom said it was yet to establish the total volume tapped by Ukraine, saying that it had siphoned off 140 million cubic meters intended for the Balkan region alone. The European Parliament speaker urged Moscow and Kiev on Tuesday to fulfill the monitoring deal and resolve their dispute, which had "caught the EU citizens in the crossfire," as soon as possible.