Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday (February 25) thatRussia would halt gas supplies to Ukraine if it did not receive advance payment, raising the possibility of onward deliveries to Europe being disrupted for the fourth time in a decade.
Europe received around 147 billion cubic metres of Russian gas last year – or around a third of its total needs – with roughly 40 percent shipped via Ukraine.
Kiev and Moscow have argued over gas supplies and pricing for the past year, deepening a rift in ties between the neighbours as Ukrainian forces battle pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine.
Russia has halted gas flows to Ukraine three times in the past decade: in 2006, 2009 and last year after it accused Kiev of not paying up. The West accuses Moscow of using energy as a geopolitical weapon to keep Ukraine under its influence.
This time, the dispute has centred on gas deliveries to Ukraine‘s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which Russia is now directly supplying with gas contracted to Ukraine.
Putin said Ukraine had enough gas to cover its needs for three or four days, but would face difficulty if it did not make its prepayments.
“Gazprom is in full compliance with its contractual obligations and will do so. The prepayment made by the Ukrainian side is enough for three to four days of gas deliveries. If the prepayment does not come, Gazprom, according to the contract and its addendum, will suspend deliveries. Of course, this may create a threat to transit toEurope, to our European partners,” he said at a news conference following a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.
Putin said he hoped there would be no Russian supply cuts but warned Europe was dependent on Ukraine‘s “financial discipline”.
“We hope such extreme measures will not be needed and gas supplies will not be interrupted. But this does not depend only on us, it depends on financial discipline of our Ukrainian partners,” he said.
He accused Kiev of punishing its people living in eastern Ukraine, where separatists have risen up, by refusing to deliver gas supplies.
“I know that four million people live there. Imagine these people will be left without gas in winter. Not only that, there is famine there already, and the OSCE has already confirmed a humanitarian disaster there, and now to cut them off from gas. How would you call it? It smells of genocide,” he said.
Moscow cut off supplies to Kiev last June and restored them only in December, after a European-brokered deal secured supplies through the winter.
Under the deal, Ukraine is required to pay in advance for gas. It has said it will not make any further payments without new guarantees because Moscow failed on Sunday (February 22) and Monday (February 23) to deliver gas that had already been purchased.
The so-called winter gas deal is due to expire at the end of next month.
Novak said European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic had proposed holding talks on the dispute on Monday (March 2).
Putin made the comments after meeting with Anastasiades in Russia‘s Novo-Ogaryovo. The two leaders signed an agreement to give Russian military ships access to Cypriot ports.
Ties between Russia and the West have plummeted in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, but Putin said the ships allowed to dock at Cypriot ports would mostly be used in international anti-terrorism and piracy efforts.