"Evolution of the Russian journalist."
That concludes the live blogging for today. Join us tomorrow.
This updated wrap of the gas talks so far from our news desk:
Ukraine's government has authorized Energy Minister Yuri Prodan to sign a protocol with Russia on terms for Russian natural gas deliveries from November 2014 to March 2015.
As a second evening of gas talks was set to resume in Brussels on October 30, Prodan was quoted saying: "In all likelihood, all the documents will be signed" before October 31.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also said late on October 30 that “Apparently we have a deal.”
Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said the sides have agreed on the "basic parameters" of documents setting out prices, volumes of gas deliveries to Ukraine in November and December, and a mechanism for restructuring Kyiv's multibillion-dollar debt to Russia for previous supplies.
Novak said that he hopes to sign a new gas deal with Ukraine during the Brussels meeting with EU and Ukrainian negotiators late on October 30.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said shortly before the second night of talks in Brussels that payment for previous gas deliveries worth $1.45 billion will be paid soon after the protocol is signed.
He said the remaining $1.65 billion debt would be paid by year end.
Yatsenyuk said the price for advance payments would be lowered from $385 per 1,000 cubic meters to $378 this year and $365 next year.
He also said the European Commission agreed to be “a guarantor overseeing that Russia sticks to its commitments regarding a fair price.”
Earlier, Novak said Moscow’s dispute with Ukraine over natural gas deliveries would not be resolved unless the EU guarantees that Kyiv will make its payments in adavnce for the supplies it wants from Russia during the coming winter.
Novak said: “If there is money, there will be gas.”
The developments come after three-way talks in Brussels that began on October 29 dragged on into the early morning hours of October 30.
The latest gas dispute between Moscow and Kyiv is tied to the geopolitical turmoil former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych set off last November when he scrapped plans to sign landmark political and economic agreements with the EU and turned toward Russia instead.
Yanukovych's about-face sparked street protests that led to his ouster in February in what Moscow claims was a coup d'etat and the rise of a pro-Western government in Kyiv that has denounced Moscow's annexation of Crimea in March and sent government forces into eastern Ukraine to fight pro-Russian rebels it says are armed and reinforced by the Russian military.
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised gas price cuts last December to dissuade Yanukovych from moving Ukraine closer to Europe, but raised the price it charges Kyiv after Yanukovych's downfall and, in June, halted all supplies meant for domestic consumption in Ukraine when Kyiv failed to pay the higher price.
At the time, Russia said Ukraine owed $5.1 billion for gas.
Russia is the EU's biggest external gas supplier, providing about one-third of the gas consumed there, and previous price disputes between Moscow and Kyiv have led to supply cuts that have chilled Europeans in wintertime.
Ukraine relies on Russia for about half of the gas it consumes, and despite storage has a winter shortfall of around 3 billion to 4 billion cubic meters (bcm), depending on the weather.
More on the gas talks from our news desk:
Ukraine's government has authorized the energy minister to sign a protocol with Russia on terms for Russian natural gas imports from November 2014 to March 2015.
On October 30, ahead of a second day of negotiations in Brussels, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said payment for previous gas deliveries worth $1.45 billion will be paid soon after the protocol is signed.
He said the remaining $1.65 billion debt would be paid by year end.
Yatsenyuk said the price for up front payments would be lowered from $385 per 1,000 cubic meters to $378 this year and $365 next year.
He also said the European Commission agreed to be “a guarantor overseeing that Russia sticks to its commitments regarding a fair price.”
Moscow says the sides have agreed on "basic parameters" of documents setting prices, volumes, and a mechanism for restructuring Ukraine's gas debt to Russia.
But it wants advance payments on future deliveries.
Looks like there's some progress at the gas talks: