Russia may stop gas supply to western Europe

September 18th, 2009 NATO proposes link with Russia's missile defenseBRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged the Western alliance and Russia to consider linking their defensive missile systems. He says NATO and Russia have a shared interest in combatting the proliferation of intercontinental ballistic missile technology in other countries.

June 26th, 2009 Gazprom: Deals near with AzerbaijanMOSCOW — Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas producer, said Friday it hoped to sign key deals in Azerbaijan next week, raising the possibility that Russia will secure Azeri gas to feed pipelines to Europe. "We enjoy good relations with Azerbaijan," chief executive Alexei Miller said at a shareholders' meeting at the company's Moscow headquarters.

June 19th, 2009 EU warns of new gas supply crisisBRUSSELS — European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned EU countries Friday to prepare for another natural gas supply crisis if Ukraine can't pay for gas imports from Russia. Russia sends the gas it sells Europe through pipelines that cross Ukraine and has cut off all supplies — including gas intended to heat European homes and fuel power plants — in previous disputes with Kiev.

May 13th, 2009 Gorbachev: Europe misunderstands RussiaMOSCOW — Mikhail Gorbachev said Wednesday that Europe still misunderstands Russia nearly two decades after the Soviet collapse, and he dismissed as nonsense portrayals of his country as an aggressive force. Gorbachev, who resigned as the Soviet Union's last president when the Cold War superpower disintegrated in 1991, said Russia does not want military conflict but suggested it should be treated as an equal.

February 15th, 2009 TEHRAN - Washington has indicated that it is willing to slow plans to deploy a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe if Moscow agreed to join the West to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear programme, a media report said. Senior Russian officials have insisted that contrary to US claims there is no evidence that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons programme.

January 27th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran is interested to discuss a deal to supply gas to the energy-hungry European continent, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday, quoting a senior official. 'Iran is ready to discuss not just the supply but also the security.

January 27th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia has decided to suspend its plan to deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad as the new US administration has indicated it would not speed up its missile shield plans in Europe, Interfax news agency reported Wednesday. 'These plans have been suspended because the new US administration is not pushing ahead with the plans to deploy the third phase of the US missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic,' a Russian General Staff official was quoted as saying.

January 26th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Ukraine has assured the European Union (EU) that the recently signed agreement on natural gas transits from Russia to Europe through its territory will be fully implemented, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday. After a meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in Brussels, Barroso said the Ukrainian leader had assured him that Kiev would stick to the gas deal even though he is not fully content with the agreement.

January 19th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian gas was on its way to Europe Tuesday after the Russian monopoly Gazprom began pumping it into a Ukrainian transit pipeline for the first time since a nearly two-week supply blockade began. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said in Moscow that Gazprom began the deliveries at 4 a.m.

January 18th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia and Ukraine clinched an agreement Monday ending a protracted dispute that froze gas shipments to Europe for nearly two-weeks. Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko were shown on Russian television presiding over the signing of a new contract on gas prices and transits between the two states in Moscow.

January 17th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia and Ukraine settled their contractual dispute over gas supplies early Monday morning, bringing an end to a week-long embargo on transits to gas-starved Europe. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said in a joint televised statement they would sign a new supply contract for 2009 Monday, immediately freeing gas supplies via Ukrainian pipelines to Europe.

January 13th, 2009 STRASBOURG - The European Union Wednesday threatened to ditch Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz as gas suppliers and take court action unless shipments to Europe are immediately restored. 'Russia and Ukraine are showing they are incapable of delivering on their commitments to some European member states,' European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

January 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US government has urged Russia to immediately restore gas supply via Ukraine to the European Union (EU). 'The US welcomes the agreement brokered by the Czech presidency of the EU to enable the restoration of gas flows to European customers and provide greater transparency along the transit route,' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday.

January 12th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russia resumed supplies of gas to Europe Tuesday as observer teams began measuring gas flows through Ukraine in an effort to mediate the ongoing standoff between Moscow and Kiev. Ukraine's Naftogaz said it had received a fax from Gazprom informing it 76 million cubic metres of gas had been sent through the pipelines 'at 10 a.m.

December 31st, 2008 MOSCOW - Ukraine has asked the European Union (EU) to mediate in the escalating dispute with Russia on gas deliveries, as a Kremlin deadline to cut off supplies to Kiev passed Thursday morning. A joint statement signed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko made public early Thursday morning said their country had asked the EU to mediate the dispute, and promised supplies to Europe would continue 'uninterrupted'.