MOSCOW (AP) – The Russian gas company Gazprom halted supplies to neighboring Ukraine on Wednesday after the collapse of pricing talks, a company official said – but an EU official said both nations gave assurances the dispute would not affect the flow of Russian gas to Europe.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Russia stopped deliveries at 10 a.m. because Ukraine didn’t make an advance payment for July’s gas.
“Gazprom is not going to send gas to Ukraine at any price without the advance payment,” Miller said in comments carried by Russian news agencies.
The latest energy dispute comes as Russian support to separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine has strained the relations between Russia and Ukraine. Still, the two nations have had years of disputes over Russian gas going to Ukraine and heading onto Europe through Ukrainian pipelines. These disputes have even left other European nations without heat in the dead of winter.
This time, Ukraine has been buying less and less gas directly from Russia.