Gazprom warned Kiev on Thursday it could suspend gas supplies to Ukraine from the start of next year over the country's failure to repay more than $2 billion in gas debt. Ukraine is a major transit country for Russian gas exports to Western Europe.
Ferran Tarradellas Espuny said Russia had given Brussels advance warning of a possible suspension in supplies via an early warning mechanism.
The advance warning system was established after Gazprom briefly cut off supplies to Ukraine during a bitter pricing row at the start of 2006, which led to shortfalls among some European consumers. It is the first time since the 2006 dispute that Moscow has used the mechanism, Espuny said.
However, Espuny said both Russia and Ukraine had later reaffirmed their supply and transit obligations. He said the European Commission would continue to monitor the two sides' talks and that the EU's Gas Coordination Group would meet on January 9 to assess the situation.
