EU won't take sides in gas dispute

BRUSSELS, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The European Union will not take sides in the dispute between Russia and Ukraine over back payments for gas, an official said Sunday.

Alexander Vondra, a deputy prime minister with the current EU president, Czechoslovakia, urged both countries to settle their differences, the Novosti news agency reported.

"We refuse to side with either party to this dispute," Vondra told Radio Contact. "This is a commercial argument, we don't know all details of all contracts, which are confidential."

Russia claims Ukraine owes $2 billion for natural gas. It stopped supplying Ukraine New Year's Day after negotiations stalled the day before.

The Russian state company, Gazprom, plans to sue Naftogaz, its Ukraine equivalent, in the Stockholm Arbitration Court. About 80 percent of Russian gas shipments to western Europe cross Ukraine by pipeline.