FT: Russia presses Kiev on gas as armed stand-off continues
Russia threatened to force Ukraine’s cash-strapped government to pay in advance for its gas imports, adding fresh pressure to Kiev as it struggled to defuse a stand-off with armed pro-Russian separatists in the country’s east.
The prepayment idea was raised by Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s prime minister, at a meeting of senior officials convened on Wednesday by President Vladimir Putin to discuss a feud over Ukraine’s unpaid gas bills after the country missed a $2.2bn payment on Monday night.
“If this critical situation continues, I think we have every reason to move to a system of prepayment for gas supply,” Mr Medvedev said.