Getting tough: Vladimir Putin
Putin tells Gazprom to turn off the gas
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today ordered gas giant Gazprom to halt all gas supplies via Ukraine, according to local media reports.
In a meeting with Putin, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller proposed halting deliveries of gas to the Russian-Ukraine border because Kiev was siphoning off the fuel, Interfax news agency reported.
Putin agreed to the proposal and said: "This should be done openly, in the presence of international observers."
Meanwhile, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek warned that the European Union would take a more forceful approach towards the Russia-Ukraine gas row if supplies to Europe do not resume by tomorrow.
"If supplies are not resumed by tomorrow, we will have to see stronger intervention from both the EU presidency and the EU as such," Topolanek, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told a news briefing.
He said there was still a chance for the Russian and Ukrainian companies involved to resolve their dispute at talks tmoorrow, but added if there was no such agreement, "discussions will have to be escalated to the highest political level".