俄羅斯切斷對烏克蘭天然氣供應

Russian energy giant Gazprom says it is cutting gas supplies to Ukraine following Kyiv's failure to meet a Monday deadline to pay nearly $2 billion of its outstanding debt.

Gazprom says Ukraine must now pre-pay for any naturAl gas after missing the deadline.

Also Monday, Gazprom filed a lawsuit in a Stockholm arbitration court to try to recover Ukraine's entire $4.5 billion debt.

Ukraine is a conduit for gas supplies to other parts of Europe. Gazprom notified European countries that shipments through Ukraine will not be affected, but warned there could be a disruption if Ukraine decides to siphon off the gas. A Gazprom spokesman said Ukraine's state-owned Naftogaz is obliged to make sure the gas reaches its European customers.

Russia and Ukraine have been embroiled in the energy dispute since April when Moscow nearly doubled the price of gas to Ukraine to $480 per 1,000 cubic meters. Russia has since offered about a 20 percent discount, but Kyiv negotiators have sought a deeper price cut, closer to the original price.俄羅斯能源巨頭國家天然氣公司說，由於烏克蘭未在星期一的最後期限之前償付將近20億美元天然氣欠款，該公司將切斷對烏克蘭的天然氣供應。

俄羅斯國家天然氣公司說，烏克蘭錯過了最後期限，因此今後必須預先爲該公司供應的所有天然氣付款。

俄羅斯國家天然氣公司星期一還向斯多哥爾摩仲裁法院提出告訴，試圖討回烏克蘭拖欠的45億美元債務。

烏克蘭是天然氣輸往歐洲其他地區的通道。俄羅斯國家天然氣公司已經通知歐洲國家，經由烏克蘭的石油供應不會受到影響，但同時警告說，如果烏克蘭決定截取天然氣，該公司的天然氣供應可能受到干擾。該公司發言人說，烏克蘭國家天然氣公司有義務確保天然氣輸送到歐洲客戶。

自4月以來，俄羅斯和烏克蘭一直陷於能源爭端，俄羅斯將提供給烏克蘭的天然氣價格提高了幾乎一倍，把每1000立方米的價格漲至480美元。俄羅斯方面後來提出降價20%左右，但基輔談判代表尋求接近原價的更大幅度降價。