Putin warns Europe of gas shortages over Ukraine debts
Pro-Russian protesters have held rallies outside the seized government building in Donetsk
Russian
President Vladimir Putin has warned European leaders that Ukraine's
delays in paying for Russian gas have created a "critical situation".
Armed pro-Russian separatists are holed up in official buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a European human rights body has stripped Russia of voting rights.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) monitors human rights in 47 member states, including Russia and Ukraine.
Protesting against Russia's annexation of Crimea last month, PACE suspended Russia's voting rights as well as Russian participation in election observer missions.
The Russian delegation had boycotted the meeting. Its leader, Alexei Pushkov, described the proceedings as a "farce".
The BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says Moscow may well brush off this diplomatic snub, but it is another sign of the price it is having to pay for its annexation of Crimea.
Russian state gas giant Gazprom says Ukraine's debt for supplies of Russian gas has risen above $2bn (£1.2bn; 1.4bn euros).
Gazprom said on Wednesday it could demand advance payments from Kiev for gas but President Putin said the company should hold off, pending talks with "our partners" - widely believed to mean the EU.
In a letter to European leaders, President Putin warned that the "critical" situation could affect deliveries of gas to Europe, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying.
Mr Putin suggested "special" measures, he added, without elaborating. Nearly one-third of the EU's natural gas comes from Russia.
Previous Russian gas disputes with Ukraine have led to severe gas shortages in several EU countries. The EU says it has extra gas supplies and reverse-flow technology to deal with any such disruption now.
In Kiev, the authorities said Ukraine would not prosecute pro-Russian activists occupying official buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk if they surrendered their weapons.
Ukraine has accused Russia of stirring up the unrest, a claim Moscow denies.
Nato says up to 40,000 Russian troops are massed near Ukraine's border.
Ukraine fears that the Russian separatist actions are a provocation similar to the protests that gripped Crimea days before Russian troops annexed the peninsula last month.
The separatists in the east - a mainly Russian-speaking region with close ties to Russia - are demanding referendums on self-rule. In Donetsk they have declared a "people's republic".
Russia, the US, Ukraine and the EU are to hold talks in Geneva next Thursday to try to resolve the impasse, EU diplomats have said.
They will be the first four-way talks since the crisis began.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State John Kerry by telephone on Wednesday that the meeting should focus on fostering dialogue among Ukrainians and not on bilateral relations among the participants.
In another development, President Putin sacked 14 generals, Russian media report.
It was not immediately clear if the move was a routine step. Russia has some 800 generals in its army alone.
Several satellite images have been
released by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe of the
Russia/Ukraine border areas. This 22 March 2014 photo appears to show
Russia's elite Spetsnaz forces stationed at Yeysk in southern Russia,
near the border
This image, also made on 27 March,
purports to show a Russian artillery battalion at a military base near
Nonocherkassk, east of the Sea of Azov in southern Russia
This apparently shows Russian tanks at a base near Kuzminka on 27 March
Labels: Aggression, Conflict, Russia, Threats, Ukraine
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, April 10, 2014
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