Putin Threatens To Cut Gas To Ukraine As Showdowns Shift To Economy
Source: Washington Post
By Michael Birnbaum February 25 at 1:02 PM
MOSCOW — Russia shifted its showdown with Ukraine to economic pressure on Wednesday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off natural gas within days even as fighting finally started to quiet in war-torn eastern Ukraine.
Putin’s warning raised new troubles for Ukraine’s economy, which is on the verge of collapse. Among the problems: dangerously low reserves of foreign currency needed to pay for the critical natural gas supplies.
Putin also said that any cut-off could also hit Europe, raising the prospect that the continent could again face shortages with warmer weather still months away.
Ukraine is a vital throughway for Russian gas deliveries to Western Europe. Russia has in the past cut off gas to nations with which it was having geopolitical disputes, although it has always denied using energy as a weapon.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/putin-threatens-to-cut-gas-to-ukraine-as-showdowns-shift-to-economy/2015/02/25/b0d709de-bcf6-11e4-9dfb-03366e719af8_story.html
Putin: Ukraine Gas Cut-Off 'Smacks Of Genocide'
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Kiev's decision to suspend gas supplies to parts of eastern Ukraine "smacks of genocide".
Speaking in televised comments, Mr Putin accused Ukraine of exacerbating the "humanitarian catastrophe" in the country's east.
"It's not enough that there's already hunger there, and the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) has reported a humanitarian catastrophe, but then to switch off their gas supplies too," he said.
"What do you call that? That already smacks of genocide."
Ukraine's national gas company Naftogaz has confirmed that it has stopped supplying some areas in the country's east.
more...
http://news.sky.com/story/1434081/putin-ukraine-gas-cut-off-smacks-of-genocide
= new reply since forum marked as read
