Moscow can't help Ukraine with gas debt

MOSCOW, June 23 (UPI) -- Moscow is unable to come to the aid of Kiev for its monthly gas payments and will look to the international monetary regime, the Russian premier said.

A dispute between Moscow and Kiev over gas contracts and arrears culminated in January gas disruptions from energy giant Gazprom to Ukraine.

The disruption left Russia's European customers in the cold for weeks as 80 percent of all Russian gas bound for Europe travels through Soviet-era pipelines traveling through Ukrainian territory.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko, agreed Jan. 19 on a revamped gas arrangement to settle the row.

That contract requires Ukraine to pay for its monthly gas supplies by the seventh day of the following month.

As Gazprom warns Europe of a looming energy crisis due to insufficient gas storage in Ukraine, Ukraine faces another deadline on its gas payment with little in the way of revenue, RIA Novosti reports.

Putin said Moscow does not have the funds to come to the aid of Kiev. His comments echo sentiments from European leaders, who said the international financial regime may be the best course of action for Kiev.

"We do not have these resources either," said Putin. "We have to resolve our own tasks."

Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, said the European Union would talk with gas and international financial officials to help Ukraine pay for its Russian gas supplies.