Putin tells EU to help Ukraine pay gas bills
(MOSCOW) - The EU should "open its wallet" with a loan to Ukraine to help the country pay its gas bills to Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday, intensifying fears of a new European gas crisis.
Russian gas supplies were cut off to more than a dozen European countries for two weeks in January in a bitter dispute between Moscow and Kiev. Tough comments by Putin in the last days have raised the spectre of a new standoff.
"If there are problems, we ask our partners to help Ukraine. Let Europe slip them a cool billion," Putin said after talks with his Danish counterpart Lars Loekke Rasmussen.
"Let (Europe) open its wallet. It has the money," Putin added, using the earthy and blunt language which has become his political trademark.
"Russia has already paid for transit (of its gas) until the first quarter of 2010 inclusive by paying 2.5 billion dollars. We have helped Ukraine," he said.
Putin's warning was the latest in a succession of tough statements casting doubt on the ability of Ukraine -- which has been hit hard by the global financial crisis -- to pay its gas bills to Russia this winter.
Putin warned the European Union's Swedish presidency at the weekend that gas supplies via Ukraine may be disrupted because of a payment dispute with Kiev.
And on Friday he said Ukraine could again have problems paying for Russian gas, blaming the country's pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko for preventing the transfer of funds.
Russia has repeatedly said it is up to the European Union to take a greater role in assisting Ukraine, which is being helped through the financial crisis with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.
Putin complained last week that the European Union had not given "a single cent" to Ukraine.
Putin said Monday that European officials had promised him that the issue was being discussed but "one month, a month-and-a-half, three months have passed. It is time to do something."
The EU has expressed impatience with Putin's tough comments, saying they were to be seen as part of the campaign for Ukrainian presidential elections due on January 17.
Russia is the world's biggest natural gas producer and the European Union depends on Russian gas pumped via Ukraine for around a fifth of its total gas consumption.
"The IMF says that Ukraine does not have problems with money. The Ukrainian prime minister says that Presidet Yushchenko is blocking the transfer of money from the central bank," said Putin.
"This isn't our business. These are the domestic affairs of Ukraine during an election campaign," he said.
Last week, Ukraine's Naftogaz issued a statement saying it would pay for October gas supplies on time.
Although Russia has cut off doing business with President Yushchenko, Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko are happy to make a show of their friendly relations.
Tymoshenko is running against arch-foe Yushchenko as well as the more pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich in a presidential poll, the first round of which is scheduled for January 17 and a run-off due for early February.
Hit harder than most by global recession, Ukraine faces a 15 percent contraction of its economy this year according to the World Bank.
Analysts have expressed surprise at Putin's warnings, saying Ukrainian payments have been regular in recent months and suggesting the upcoming presidential polls may have a role in the dispute.