Russians baulk at accord ‘contradictions’
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday an agreement on international monitoring of gas transit through Ukraine cannot be implemented until contradictions in the document are cleared up.
"We are forced to consider the signed document is invalid ... and it will not be implemented by us until these stipulations are removed or revoked in any other way by the Ukrainain side."
Ukraine signed the agreement early yesterday but added a handwritten note noting that it had attached a declaration. Several of the clauses in the declaration contradict Russia's position.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, representing the EU presidency, told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian additions to a gas monitoring agreement were non-binding, a Putin spokesman said yesterday.
"Ukraine's declaration is not part of the (main) protocol and only represents the opinion of the Ukrainian side," a spokesman quoted Topolanek as telling Putin during a telephone conversation, according to a Reuters report.
He said Putin had asked Topolanek to send Russia a protocol on monitors, meant to guarantee resumption of Russian gas flows to Europe, without any additions and declarations.
Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom halted gas exports to Ukraine on 1 January in a dispute over prices and debts. The move affected its exports to Europe for which Ukraine’s pipelines are a key transit route.
The situation worsened last week as Moscow continued to cut exports, saying Ukraine was stealing gas destined for its European customers. Exports ground to a complete halt by the end of the week, with many European countries forces to rely on stored reserves amid freezing temperatures across the country.
Over the weekend the EU brokered a deal to have monitors placed on pipeline entry and exit points to Ukraine to check whether the country was diverting gas. It is not clear at present whether the arrangement will go ahead.