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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Snowshoe who wrote (45236)	1/13/2009 12:18:59 PM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 217712

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To: Snowshoe who wrote (45236)	1/14/2009 2:51:16 PM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217712

Russia divides Europe with gas crisis summit Russia has called a gas crisis summit that will cut out the European Union. telegraph.co.uk By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels Last Updated: 6:04PM GMT 14 Jan 2009 State-controlled Russian energy giant Gazprom to restore supplies at 07:00 GMT on Tuesday Photo: GETTY Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian President, has invited countries hit by the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute to a meeting planned for Saturday. But he conspicuously failed to mention the EU. "I propose convening a summit of states that are customers of Russian gas or transit countries," he said following a meeting with the Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. "I hope that the meeting that will take place in Moscow will find a solution to the current situation and avoid such situations in the future." European Commission officials and the Czech Republic, current holders of the EU presidency, refused to comment on the summit, which is regarded with suspicion on the European side. "More details are needed about the possible format," said the Commission spokesman. European diplomats fear that Russia is trying to fragment Europe's unity by holding negotiations with individual countries affected by the gas dispute, such as Germany, rather than dealing with the EU as a bloc. "This is very part of the game of divide and rule," said one European diplomat. Russia's tactics appeared to be bearing fruit after two EU countries broke ranks to hold bilateral talks with Mr Putin. Bulgarian and Slovakian leaders were joined by Moldova in crisis talks in Moscow. All three countries have been badly hit by energy shortages following Russia's decision to cut off gas last Wednesday. According to EU monitors sent to check pipelines in Ukraine and Russia, who are in dispute over gas and transit prices, no gas was delivered. Supply pledges made by Gazprom amount to less than a third of the volume required to resume normal service. Jose (acute accent on the e) Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, has urged European companies to challenge Russia in the courts unless full gas supplies are restored to the EU "as a matter of urgency". "The current situation is both unacceptable and incredible," he said. The Czech Republic's EU presidency also issued a terse statement threatening that the crisis will have "political consequences" for Russia and Ukraine in their relations with the EU unless it is resolved quickly.