[While Kiev is unmistakably moving towards EU, its hold over the restive southeast Ukraine remains at best tenuous.]
I/III. http://rt.com/business/168408-ukraine-begs-reverse-gas-eu/ Ukraine asks for 'big gas reverse' from Slovakia Published time: June 25, 2014 15:20 Get short <http://rt.com/business/168408-ukraine-begs-reverse-gas-eu/> Ukrainian minister of Energy Yuriy Prodan gives a press conference with the EU commissioner for Energy after their working session on June 25, 2014 at the EU headquarters in Brussels. (AFP Photo / Georges Gobet) Ukraine Energy Minister Yury Prodan says the EU has been asked to start pumping 30 billion cubic meters of gas using reverse flow from Slovakia. Russia has cut supplies to Ukraine until it pays its gas bill; meanwhile Kiev is seeing alternate supplies. *"We have signed a memorandum which stipulates that the maximum amount of small reverse supplies stands at 22 million cubic meters daily. There is another option, large reverse supplies, which may provide us with up to 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually,"* Yuri Prodan said during a meeting with EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger in Brussels. Ukraine has already struck a deal <http://rt.com/business/155272-ukraine-slovakia-reverse-gas/> to import 3.2 billion cubic meters of gas from Slovakia through reverse flow, as well as from neighboring Hungary and Poland. The two countries signed a memorandum of intent in April. Kiev is highly dependent on Russia's Gazprom to keep the heat on in the winter, but has fallen out with the gas producer over pricing and its huge debt. At the beginning of June, Gazprom switched <http://rt.com/business/gas-miller-ukraine-debt-553/> Ukraine to a prepayment system. Gazprom doubts the legality <http://rt.com/business/gas-miller-ukraine-debt-553/> of reverse flow gas into Ukraine, since under the contract countries cannot <http://rt.com/business/166520-ukraine-reverse-gas-flows/> redistribute Russian gas. Deliveries from Slovakia could satisfy up to 20 percent of Ukraine's natural gas demand, which in 2013 was 55 billion cubic meters. II/III. httphttp://rt.com/news/168196-putin-ceasefire-ukraine-talks/ Putin: Weeklong cease-fire in Ukraine should be extended, accompanied by talks Published time: June 24, 2014 15:46 Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart in Vienna on June 24, 2014. (AFP Photo / Dieter Nagl) Russia hopes a cease-fire between Kiev and the protesting regions in southeastern Ukraine will be extended beyond the set date of June 27, President Putin said. *"I agree with Mr. President [Austrian President Heinz Fischer] that seven days are obviously not enough,"* Putin said at a press-conference in Vienna. *"We have told Ukraine and also given this information to President Poroshenko: to declare a cease-fire is not enough; it is necessary to start substantive negotiations on the nature of the problem,"* he added. President Putin has stressed that negotiations should not just focus on stopping military actions. There should be dialogue *"about specific arrangements between all sides in the conflict."* At the same time, Kiev should not be demanding disarmament in eastern Ukraine, given that *"radical elements like the Right Sector and other radical [groups] are not yet disarmed, despite repeatedly talking about that and basically promising that illegal groups will lay down arms."* *"In such conditions demanding militia to lay down arms, in my opinion, makes no sense,"* Putin said. Nevertheless, the existing ceasefire and the start of negotiations *"is definitely a right decision,"* the Russian president concluded. He added that Russia is interested in creating conditions *"for a peaceful process"* in Ukraine. *"This is what my appeal to the Upper House is connected with,"* Putin said, responding to a journalist's question about the presidential request to the Federation Council which is aimed at repealing the resolution on the use of Russian armed forces on the territory of Ukraine. President Putin also stressed that his appeal will not mean that Russia *"will not be paying attention to what is going on there."* Moscow will continue to protect the rights of the ethnic Russian-speaking population in Ukraine - "hopefully" without the involvement of military forces. *"We, of course, will not only be closely following, but also reacting in an appropriate way [to events in Ukraine]. I hope that armed forces will not be needed for that,"* he said. On June 20, Ukraine's new president, Petro Poroshenko, announced the seven-day ceasefire, which was agreed to by the self-defense forces on Monday. However, despite the temporary truce, fighting continues in the Donetsk region, where self-defense forces have downed a Ukrainian army Mi-8 helicopter used for transporting military cargo. At least nine people were reportedly killed in the attack. READ MORE: Militia down chopper near Slavyansk, 9 feared dead - military spokesman <http://rt.com/news/168184-helicopter-down-east-ukraine/> Fighting has also been reported in the suburbs of the city of Donetsk, according to Aleksandr Boroday, prime minister of the People's Republic of Donetsk III. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ukraine-calls-russia-support-peace-plan-24312109 Thousands Flee Ukraine for Russia; Truce Nears End IZVARYNE, Ukraine -- Jun 26, 2014, 6:44 AM ET By BALINT SZLANKO Associated Press Thousands of Ukrainians in cars stuffed with belongings lined up Thursday at the eastern border to cross into Russia, with some saying they felt betrayed by their government and vowing never to return. A commander at the rebel-controlled border post southeast of the city of Luhansk said 5,000 people had left by evening, joining a stream he said has continued unabated through a shaky cease-fire set to expire on Friday. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have sought safety in Russia since the fighting began two months ago between government troops and Moscow-backed separatist fighters. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday called on Russia to support his peace plan "with deeds, not words" as the weeklong cease-fire neared its end in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said they too were looking for more action from Moscow ahead of a summit on Friday of European Union leaders, who will be considering a new round of punitive sanctions on Russia. The summit also will see Ukraine sign a sweeping trade agreement with the EU that will bind it more closely to the West. It was the former Ukrainian president's sudden decision late last year to back out of the EU deal under pressure from Russia that led to his ouster and triggered the current crisis. By declaring a cease-fire only through Friday morning, Poroshenko may have been trying to push forward the peace process ahead of the EU summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged him to extend the truce and hold talks with the separatists, who have declared independence in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Poroshenko announced Thursday that representatives of the mutinous regions have agreed to talks with the Russian ambassador, a former Ukrainian president representing Poroshenko, and a European envoy. The first round of talks on Monday brought rebel leaders to the negotiating table for the first time. Russian news agencies quoted Andrei Purgin, a leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, as saying the next round would be held Friday in Donetsk. Poroshenko has shown willingness to extend the cease-fire and his next step may hinge on the outcome of the talks. It was unclear how many Ukrainians will end up settling in Russia. Russia's migration service said last week that it had registered the arrival of 90,000 Ukrainians, but few asked for refugee status because it would oblige them to stay in Russia for at least six months. Many of those at the Izvaryne crossing on Thursday were taking household items, including refrigerators. One family from a village south of Slovyansk, a separatist stronghold that has come under frequent shelling from the military, said they "hated Ukraine" and would not return. The rebel commander, who would give only his first name, Alexander, said whenever there was a spike in the hostilities the flow of refugees would increase. The day before the cease-fire was announced, the line to cross the border stretched for 5 kilometers (3 miles). The United Nations estimates that from April 15 to June 20, 423 people, including servicemen and civilians, were killed in eastern Ukraine. Even though some rebel groups agreed to observe the cease-fire, Poroshenko said 18 government troops have been killed this week. Separatist leaders also have reported deaths among rebel fighters. Speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Thursday, Poroshenko urged Moscow to stop the flow of fighters from Russia and take other steps to end the conflict. "Without that, we cannot talk about peace," Poroshenko said. "Support the peace plan with deeds, not words." Kerry, speaking in Paris, said "it is critical for Russia to show in the next hours, literally, that they're moving to help disarm the separatists, to encourage them to disarm." Merkel also stressed the importance for Russia to show its commitments "in the coming hours," saying that Germany will "have to decide how we will further proceed" on possible sanctions against Russia after a meeting with Poroshenko on Friday. Putin and Merkel spoke by phone on Thursday, discussing extending the cease-fire and releasing people held by armed rebels, the Kremlin said. Germany also announced that it was easing its immigration restrictions for Jews from Ukraine due to reports of an increase in anti-Semitic incidents since the crisis broke out. Nataliya Vasilyeva and Lynn Berry in Moscow, Angela Charlton and Lara Jakes in Paris, Juergen Baetz in Berlin and John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels contributed to this report. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
