11:54
16.6.2014
As Gazprom & Naftogaz sue each other, #Ukraine says it can last until December without Russian gas, Interfax Ukraine reports
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) June 16, 2014
On the bright side, its the beginning of summer. There are worse times to have a gas war.
— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) June 16, 2014
11:03
16.6.2014
#Ukraine Defense Ministry reports 50 militants killed in #Kramatorsk and #Druzhkivka, no losses in special forces http://t.co/IBr09afsyH
— Kyiv Post (@KyivPost) June 16, 2014
09:46
16.6.2014
Another gas-related update from RFE/RL's news desk:
Russia said it has restricted gas supplies to Ukraine after a payment deadline passed today but that supplies to Europe should not be affected.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said that since Ukraine had paid nothing toward its overdue gas bill by an 9 a.m. (Kyiv time) deadline, Moscow had no legal imperative to supply gas to Kyiv.
Kupriyanov said Ukraine now has an obligation to ensure that gas intended for European customers flows unimpeded.
Gazprom also said it has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine in a Stockholm arbitration court to recover $4.5 billion in debt.
EU-brokered talks in Kyiv yesterday failed to reach an agreement on almost $2 billion in gas debt.
The European Commission said in a statement today that, during the talks in Kyiv, Ukraine was ready to accept a compromise of paying $1 billion now and more later, but Russia was not.
EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said he was aiming to arrange further talks later this month and urged Moscow to reconsider a compromise offer, perhaps with small adjustments.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said that since Ukraine had paid nothing toward its overdue gas bill by an 9 a.m. (Kyiv time) deadline, Moscow had no legal imperative to supply gas to Kyiv.
Kupriyanov said Ukraine now has an obligation to ensure that gas intended for European customers flows unimpeded.
Gazprom also said it has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine in a Stockholm arbitration court to recover $4.5 billion in debt.
EU-brokered talks in Kyiv yesterday failed to reach an agreement on almost $2 billion in gas debt.
The European Commission said in a statement today that, during the talks in Kyiv, Ukraine was ready to accept a compromise of paying $1 billion now and more later, but Russia was not.
EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said he was aiming to arrange further talks later this month and urged Moscow to reconsider a compromise offer, perhaps with small adjustments.
09:39
16.6.2014
RT @UkrProgress 1/2 @JohnKerry expressed his concern over recent events in a phone call with Foreign Minister #Lavrov
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) June 16, 2014
RT @UkrProgress 2/2 @John Kerry: #Russia must deescalate, cooperate with #Ukraine and halt the supply of weapons
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) June 16, 2014
RT @UkrProgress: In phone call with #Yatsenyuk, @JohnKerry expressed his condolences for those killed when plane shot down by separatists
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) June 16, 2014
RT @UkrProgress: @JohnKerry expressed concern that the heavy weaponry from #Russia continued to flow across the border
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) June 16, 2014
RT @UkrProgress: @JohnKerry supports the efforts of #Ukraine to defend its border and the peace plan of #Poroshenko
— Geoffrey Pyatt (@GeoffPyatt) June 16, 2014
09:28
16.6.2014
Russia Today: How #Ukraine gas crisis will effect Europe in one simple graphic http://t.co/OaHOCncgZh pic.twitter.com/Bc2Lm8Old0
— Daniel Brössler (@dbroessler) June 16, 2014
09:01
16.6.2014
So, it seems the less-than-complimentary words used by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia were a reference to a football chant dreamt up by hard-core ultras at a match between Metalist Kyiv and Dynamo Kharkiv...
which quickly became an internet meme.
which quickly became an internet meme.
08:20
16.6.2014
Gazprom moves this morning to "prepayment" regime for Ukrainian gas, spelling a gas cutoff...
— Michael Birnbaum (@michaelbirnbaum) June 16, 2014
08:11
16.6.2014
According to our news desk, as things stand, Russia is going to turn off gas supplies to the country pretty soon.
A Russian deadline for Ukraine to pay its overdue gas debt or face a cut in supplies has passed following the breakdown of EU-brokered talks in Kyiv.
A Gazprom statement on June 16 said Kyiv would now have to pay up front. It said Ukraine had also failed to pay for June deliveries, suggesting supplies could now be cut.
Such a stoppage could also disrupt the gas flow to European countries.
President Vladimir Putin had threatened to cut deliveries today unless Kyiv pays $1.95 billion in gas debts by 9 a.m. Kyiv time.
A statement from the European Commission says a plan envisioned by EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger had Ukraine prepared to pay $1 billion on June 16, with the remainder paid in installments by the end of 2014.
The EU plan would also see Kyiv paying a "winter" price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas and a "summer" price of around $300.
Putin has said $385 is his final offer.
The European Commission said it is "convinced that a solution is still possible."
A Gazprom statement on June 16 said Kyiv would now have to pay up front. It said Ukraine had also failed to pay for June deliveries, suggesting supplies could now be cut.
Such a stoppage could also disrupt the gas flow to European countries.
President Vladimir Putin had threatened to cut deliveries today unless Kyiv pays $1.95 billion in gas debts by 9 a.m. Kyiv time.
A statement from the European Commission says a plan envisioned by EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger had Ukraine prepared to pay $1 billion on June 16, with the remainder paid in installments by the end of 2014.
The EU plan would also see Kyiv paying a "winter" price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas and a "summer" price of around $300.
Putin has said $385 is his final offer.
The European Commission said it is "convinced that a solution is still possible."
08:02
16.6.2014
Accord to UKR source,pro-RUS forces have 2 more "Grad" rocket launcher units in East Ukraine http://t.co/vhth6OkGRy pic.twitter.com/jKGKmHbIX5
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) June 16, 2014
08:00
16.6.2014
Good morning. We'll start the live blog today with this report from RFE/RL's news desk on Ukraine's day of morning yesterday for the soldiers who were killed when a military transport was shot down near Luhansk at the weekend:
June 15 was a day of mourning in Ukraine for 49 soldiers killed when pro-Russian separatists shot down a military transport plane.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared the day of mourning and has vowed a firm response against those who shot down the aircraft early on June 14 as it approached the airport in Luhansk.
"Ukraine is in sorrow, but we strongly continue the struggle for peace," Poroshenko said.
Shortly after Poronshenko's speech on June 14, a crowd of several hundred people in Kyiv smashed windows in the Russian embassy and overturned luxury cars belonging to Russian embassy staff before pulling down the Russian flag.
Russia's Foreign Ministry on June 15 sent a protest note to Kyiv demanding that those responsible for the attack be caught and punished.
Russia condemned the failure of Kyiv's police to stop the angry crowd, calling it "a grave violation of Ukraine's international obligations."
A Molotov cocktail also was thrown against a wall of the Russian embassy but the fire was quickly extinguished.
A sign carried by protesters in the crowd declared "Russia is a killer."
One Ukrainian woman in the crowd, who gave her name as Tetyana, said she thinks there would not be a crisis in eastern Ukraine without Russian support for the separatists there.
In Washington, the White House condemned the shooting down of the plane, saying that it is a "fact" that pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have received heavy weapons from Russia, including tanks and rocket launchers.
Meanwhile, NATO has released satellite imagery that gives added weight to claims by Kyiv that the separatists in eastern Ukraine are using tanks supplied by Russia in recent days.
The imagery shows three Russian T-64 tanks loaded onto transporters in a military convoy close to the Ukrainian border on June 11 in the Russian region of Rostov.
NATO officials say they have no doubt it is the same military convoy that crossed the border into Ukraine later on June 11.
A senior NATO official has told the BBC that the satellite images "raise significant questions concerning Russia's role in facilitating instability in eastern Ukraine.
Russia denies supplying tanks and weaponry to separatists in Ukraine.
Denis Pushilin, a pro-Russia separatist leader in Donetsk, told Russian state television on June 13 that rebels in Donetsk had obtained tanks. But he said it was "improper to ask" where they had gotten them.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared the day of mourning and has vowed a firm response against those who shot down the aircraft early on June 14 as it approached the airport in Luhansk.
"Ukraine is in sorrow, but we strongly continue the struggle for peace," Poroshenko said.
Shortly after Poronshenko's speech on June 14, a crowd of several hundred people in Kyiv smashed windows in the Russian embassy and overturned luxury cars belonging to Russian embassy staff before pulling down the Russian flag.
Russia's Foreign Ministry on June 15 sent a protest note to Kyiv demanding that those responsible for the attack be caught and punished.
Russia condemned the failure of Kyiv's police to stop the angry crowd, calling it "a grave violation of Ukraine's international obligations."
A Molotov cocktail also was thrown against a wall of the Russian embassy but the fire was quickly extinguished.
A sign carried by protesters in the crowd declared "Russia is a killer."
One Ukrainian woman in the crowd, who gave her name as Tetyana, said she thinks there would not be a crisis in eastern Ukraine without Russian support for the separatists there.
In Washington, the White House condemned the shooting down of the plane, saying that it is a "fact" that pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have received heavy weapons from Russia, including tanks and rocket launchers.
Meanwhile, NATO has released satellite imagery that gives added weight to claims by Kyiv that the separatists in eastern Ukraine are using tanks supplied by Russia in recent days.
The imagery shows three Russian T-64 tanks loaded onto transporters in a military convoy close to the Ukrainian border on June 11 in the Russian region of Rostov.
NATO officials say they have no doubt it is the same military convoy that crossed the border into Ukraine later on June 11.
A senior NATO official has told the BBC that the satellite images "raise significant questions concerning Russia's role in facilitating instability in eastern Ukraine.
Russia denies supplying tanks and weaponry to separatists in Ukraine.
Denis Pushilin, a pro-Russia separatist leader in Donetsk, told Russian state television on June 13 that rebels in Donetsk had obtained tanks. But he said it was "improper to ask" where they had gotten them.