‘No progress’ in Europe gas talks

Talks between EU and Russian and Ukrainian officials to try to end the row disrupting gas supplies in Europe have ended with no apparent progress.
Further planned talks in Brussels were reportedly cancelled, and there is no sign of direct Russia-Ukraine talks.
Hopes were raised after a meeting between the heads of the two countries’ gas companies in Moscow overnight.
The row – over prices and new contracts – has led to a suspension of supplies of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine.
The European Union has been seeking to broker an end to the dispute.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso met Russian gas giant Gazprom’s chief executive Alexei Miller, and later the Ukrainian Naftogaz company’s head Oleg Dubyna.
But the BBC’s Dominic Hughes in Brussels says any optimism resulting from the Moscow meeting may have been misplaced – further meetings expected later in the day appear to have been cancelled.
Supplies cut
Some EU states are getting no gas at all or have seen supplies sharply cut.
Ukraine denies Russian accusations that it is stealing gas passing through export pipelines on its territory.
Russia cut gas to Ukraine itself a week ago as a row over allegedly unpaid bills escalated.

The EU depends on Russia for about a quarter of its total gas supplies, some 80% of which are pumped via Ukraine.

Brussels has so far avoided taking sides in the dispute, calling only for deliveries to resume urgently, the BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse reports from Kiev.
Apart from the immediate question of who is to blame, Kiev and Moscow have fundamental disagreements over how much Ukraine owes Russia for last year’s gas and how much it should pay this year, our correspondent adds.
Blame game
Mr Barroso has accused Moscow and Kiev of both taking the EU’s gas supply „hostage“ and urged them to resume supplies immediately.

He said the EU was ready to send monitors to the Russian-Ukrainian border and Ukrainian exit points to determine where gas shortfalls originated.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Grigory Nemyria placed the blame for the row squarely at Russia’s door.
„If there is something to transit of course Ukraine was committed to ensure uninterrupted transit of the Russian gas to Europe but there is no gas at all as we found out today then it speaks for itself,“ he told the BBC.
Moscow counters that Kiev is to blame, saying that Ukraine has blocked the pipelines that transport gas further west and has been syphoning off gas for its own use.
Nuclear U-turn?
On Wednesday, heating systems shut down in some parts of central Europe, as outdoor temperatures plunged to -10C or lower.
The list of countries that reported a total halt of Russian supplies via Ukraine included Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia, and Austria.

Countries in eastern and central Europe have been particularly badly affected, as they rely heavily on Russian gas supplies but don’t have access to the same kind of stockpiles found in Germany, Italy and France.

Power stations have been told to switch to fuel oil where possible, while big industrial users have been told to prepare to limit or halt use.
There have also been calls for Soviet-era nuclear plants to be restarted in Bulgaria and Slovakia.