Urgent meeting to resolve gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia

Russia, Ukraine and the European Union (EU) will hold tonight in Kiev an emergency meeting to try to reach an agreement on the Russian-Ukrainian dispute over the  supplying and price of gas.

“The goal is to continue discussions on issues related to the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine, in order to achieve a solution that ensures a stable supply”, indicated the EU executive.

The European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger will participate in the meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yetseniuk; the Minister of Energy Yuriy Prodan; President of the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz, Andrei Kobolev, and Russian gas company Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller, said the European Commission (EC) in a statement.

This new meeting will take place after that last Wednesday both parties failed to reach an agreement on the gas price and schedule for the payment of the debt by the Russian hydrocarbon exports to Ukraine.

Russia proposed on Wednesday a formula that included a reduction of $ 100 per thousand cubic meters of gas, which would leave the current price at $ 385. Ukraine, however, rejected the offer.