CS Monitor: Ukraine gas talks stall again. What that means for winter in Europe

With yet another round of Ukraine gas talks reportedly falling short of a deal, Ukraine is staring down the very real possibility of a cold winter without much-needed Russian natural gas.

Temperatures are already dropping below freezing in Kiev, and officials are increasingly concerned about a lack of the vital winter heating fuel in the colder months ahead. Should it fail to strike a deal with Russia, its primary supplier, Ukraine will scramble to ration the limited supplies it has in storage. It is already working to expand flows of gas from its European neighbors to the west to compensate for missing Russian supply. It may also be compelled – as it has in previous energy crises – to siphon off Russian gas traveling to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines.

Either way, a lack of Russian supply in Ukraine – combined with rising European demand for the fuel in cold weather – could make for an expensive and dangerous winter across the Continent.
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