Deliveries of Russian gas to Europe remain suspended after negotiations on Friday aimed at agreeing on a mechanism to monitor gas flow through Ukraine failed to bring any result. Russian state-run energy firm Gasprom, which has pledged to resume deliveries to Europe once the deal is signed, has said Ukraine disrupted Friday's talks. Kyiv, meanwhile, is saying that Ukraine is prepared to sign a deal on a monitoring mechanism as soon as possible. Millions of Europeans are left shivering in some of the coldest temperatures of the winter so far, as Russia, which supplies one-quarter of all gas consumed in European Union countries, continues to halt deliveries of its gas.
(Voice of America)
MOSCOW REGION, January 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the European Union have signed a protocol to set up an international commission to control the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukraine. The document was signed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, energy giant Gazprom's CEO Alexei Miller as well as Martin Riman, the industry and trade minister of the Czech Republic, which is holding the rotating presidency in the EU. Russia was forced to halt transit deliveries via Ukraine on Wednesday after a check established that Ukraine was not carrying any gas to Europe. Moscow said supplies would resume when a multilateral commission was formed to monitor transit via Ukraine. "We will do this [resume transit supplies] immediately after international monitors take charge of entry and exit points on the border between Ukraine and Russia as well as on Ukraine's border with other European countries," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said following talks with his Czech counterpart Mirek Topolanek. "Monitors should also be sent to European countries bordering on Ukraine." Under an agreement reached between Russia and the EU on Saturday, Gazprom, Ukraine's Naftogaz, the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministries, the European Commission, European consumer companies and international monitoring organizations will be represented in the international commission being set up to monitor trans-Ukrainian gas deliveries, Putin said.
MOSCOW REGION, January 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the European Union have signed a protocol to set up an international commission to control the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukraine.
The document was signed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, energy giant Gazprom's CEO Alexei Miller as well as Martin Riman, the industry and trade minister of the Czech Republic, which is holding the rotating presidency in the EU.
Russia was forced to halt transit deliveries via Ukraine on Wednesday after a check established that Ukraine was not carrying any gas to Europe. Moscow said supplies would resume when a multilateral commission was formed to monitor transit via Ukraine.
"We will do this [resume transit supplies] immediately after international monitors take charge of entry and exit points on the border between Ukraine and Russia as well as on Ukraine's border with other European countries," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said following talks with his Czech counterpart Mirek Topolanek. "Monitors should also be sent to European countries bordering on Ukraine."
Under an agreement reached between Russia and the EU on Saturday, Gazprom, Ukraine's Naftogaz, the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministries, the European Commission, European consumer companies and international monitoring organizations will be represented in the international commission being set up to monitor trans-Ukrainian gas deliveries, Putin said.
(RIA Novosti)
MOSCOW, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Saturday the Russian energy group Gazprom will begin monitoring gas transits through Ukraine. Topolanek said the international monitoring efforts are part of an oral agreement between the European Union and Ukraine. RIA Novosti reported Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called for a written version of the deal to solidify it. "I hope you will manage to persuade our Ukrainian partners to sign the documents to create mechanisms of control," Putin said. Under the agreement, experts from the Ukrainian energy group, Naftogaz, will serve as gas transit monitors in Russia. The agreement is the result of demands by Russia for international monitoring of gas piped through Ukrainian territory. Russia had cut off all gas supplies to the European Union in an attempt to bring about such an agreement.
Topolanek said the international monitoring efforts are part of an oral agreement between the European Union and Ukraine. RIA Novosti reported Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called for a written version of the deal to solidify it.
"I hope you will manage to persuade our Ukrainian partners to sign the documents to create mechanisms of control," Putin said.
Under the agreement, experts from the Ukrainian energy group, Naftogaz, will serve as gas transit monitors in Russia.
The agreement is the result of demands by Russia for international monitoring of gas piped through Ukrainian territory. Russia had cut off all gas supplies to the European Union in an attempt to bring about such an agreement.
(UPI)
He was also emphatic that questions of payments for technical gas (needed to push transit commodity to Europe), payments for transit itself, and prices for deliveries to Ukraine are not anyone's business but of Russia and Ukraine.
Martin Riman, Czech trade and industry minister, said that the current situation (stoppage of transit) is unprecedented in 4 decades of Russia-Europe gas trade, in effect saying that 2006 was not "Russia stopping gas transit to Europe".
Nordstream will happen anyway. Southstream still has other unresolved issues beofre it happens. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
To make more or less firm conclusions on what was the prevalent driver of the conflict (BTW, Yushenko secretariat just accused Tymoshenko of openly siding with Russia and aiming at political defeat of Yushenko... Russians say that negotiations were stopped in late December at Yushenko's direct order - the political/financial fight in Ukraine has been intense), we have to wait and see the parameters of the Russia-Ukraine contract.
What Russia has achieved, IMHO, is rationalization of the Russia-EU gas trade. Analysis and negotiations should become easier. Finland and Sweden won't be able to block or delay North Stream any longer. On the other hand, Europe now could rationally allow Slovakia and Bulgaria to restart their nuclear power plants, Germany would do the same, and in the long run Russia will be forced to rely on LNG more than it would have liked.
And finally, the grey trade should become harder with international monitors around. Purely on these grounds, non-transparent part of the trade must go down, which would help a lot.
KIEV, January 10 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's president has promised to start providing 2 million cubic meters of natural gas daily to Bulgaria and Moldova from its own reserves on January 10, the presidential press service said on Saturday. In his letters to the countries' presidents, Viktor Yushchenko proposed settling up after Russia resumes gas deliveries to Europe. Bohdan Sokolovsky, the Ukrainian president's international energy security envoy, said Ukraine has already started delivering gas to Moldova and is preparing supplies to Bulgaria.
KIEV, January 10 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's president has promised to start providing 2 million cubic meters of natural gas daily to Bulgaria and Moldova from its own reserves on January 10, the presidential press service said on Saturday.
In his letters to the countries' presidents, Viktor Yushchenko proposed settling up after Russia resumes gas deliveries to Europe.
Bohdan Sokolovsky, the Ukrainian president's international energy security envoy, said Ukraine has already started delivering gas to Moldova and is preparing supplies to Bulgaria.
The war in Afghanistan is a war of a new kind, being waged simultaneously on the security and development fronts. The battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people will determine the success or failure of the mission. But in our haste to win the support of Afghans, we forget that this is a battle that must be fought at home too. National opinion polls point to shrinking support for the mission. We are plainly losing the battle for European hearts and minds on Afghanistan. The consequences of this failure are dire. European troops and civilian experts on the front lines do not enjoy the moral support they deserve. At the same time the capacity of governments to strengthen or even renew their commitment to Afghanistan is now seriously limited. Each European country significantly involved in Afghanistan should, as a matter of urgency, set up an independent public review of its future commitment. These review commissions would evaluate the different options and propose a pragmatic way forward that reflects each country's national interest. They should also generate a substantial public discussion on why Afghanistan matters for Europeans.
Each European country significantly involved in Afghanistan should, as a matter of urgency, set up an independent public review of its future commitment. These review commissions would evaluate the different options and propose a pragmatic way forward that reflects each country's national interest. They should also generate a substantial public discussion on why Afghanistan matters for Europeans.
Not that I'm suggesting... No, I wouldn't do that...
With a new White House occupant likely to strengthen the US focus there, Afghanistan is a test to Europe's capacity to be a reliable and unified transatlantic partner.
So, that's the need to fight in Afghanistan. Not to actually achieve anything (and god knows we're certainly not achieving anything at the moment) but simply to demonstrate our blind obedience to the whims of the White House.
But he starts the argument with a lie;-
The battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people will determine the success or failure of the mission. But in our haste to win the support of Afghans, we forget that this is a battle that must be fought at home too.
"Our haste to win the support of the afghans...". Excuse me. Is this some variant of "The floggings will continue until morale improves" ? How does our behaviour of destroying villages to prevent them being used by the enemy help ? Or the torture that goes on at the airbases ? Of generally behaving as being above the law even in areas that are supposedly liberated ? Of bombing wedding parties with seemingly gay abandon ? Of destroying the only cash crop they can grow ?
all the while never addressing the systematic corruption in the afghan govt that renders most afghanis lives as nightmares of injustice and graft.
Yet somehow we in europe are supposed to ignore the blatant contradictory and self-defeating nature of our efforts in Afghanistan and ssport our troops on yet more widespread and pointless efforts that endup going in circles for the simple reason that there is no strategy, no political objective or control that would enable us to believe it's worthwhile.
right now we just seem to be on some random killing spree on behalf of a dictator. and we're suposed to support this barbarity ?
Not. In. My. Name keep to the Fen Causeway
