Talks aimed at resolving the “gas crisis” on Saturday in Moscow “were constructive, but so far have not yielded results,” stated European Commission spokesman Denis Daniilidis. Daniilidis made this statement following a summit meeting that included top Russian officials and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as well as European Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs and Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Riman on behalf of the current presidency of the Union.
In accordance with a joint European decision, they also represented candidate countries, including Croatia. Daniilidis stated that the talks, which are set to continue on Saturday evening between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko at the government headquarters in Moscow, are “purely bilateral” and no EU representative will participate. Medvedev, after the summit meeting in the Kremlin, expressed his desire for gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine to continue in the coming days, adding that the Ukrainian side is “stalling” the negotiations.
“I have the impression that our colleagues from Ukraine have not rushed to these negotiations, and the more we stretch them out, the more problems will arise in our bilateral relations,” said Medvedev. The spokesman for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated that the European Union’s stance in the talks regarding the resolution of the “gas crisis” does not contribute to finding a solution. “The European Union equates Russia and Ukraine in this dispute. That is simply not fair and does not contribute to finding a solution,” said Dmitry Peskov. (Hina)
