MOSCOW — Fuel delivery to four European countries fell below normal Saturday as Russia's state gas monopoly withheld natural gas from neighboring Ukraine for the third consecutive day.
Ukraine warned that its gas pipeline system could experience "serious disruptions" if a worsening price dispute isn't settled in 10 to 15 days, threatening shortfalls across Europe in the heart of winter. Gas flows to Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, all of which depend on pipelines that cross Ukraine, slumped on Saturday, officials said.
Ukraine said it had enough natural gas stored to last for months. But experts had warned that the abrupt stoppage of gas to Ukraine could cause pressure to dwindle in the pipeline system, creating delivery problems for the rest of Europe. Russia's Gazprom said it had increased gas flows bound for other European customers through Belarus and Turkey to counter any troubles.
The Russian-Ukrainian standoff appeared to be worsening as Gazprom and Ukraine bitterly blamed each other for the stalled negotiations and European fuel delivery woes.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday approved Gazprom's plan to sue Ukraine for failing to keep proper levels of gas moving through its pipelines to the rest of Europe, the company announced.
Ukraine says Russia is at fault for failing to provide enough gas to keep the pipeline system running smoothly.
The European Union called an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the gas troubles. The bloc has enough reserves on hand to withstand the shortfalls for now.
About a fifth of the gas delivered to European Union countries arrives via pipelines cutting through Ukraine.
Talks between Ukraine and Russia have been stalled since negotiations collapsed on New Year's Eve. The two countries remain at odds over the price Ukraine should pay for natural gas in 2009 and the amount of transit fees Gazprom will pay the country for allowing its gas to pass through to other European customers.
In recent years, feuds over natural gas have become a steady and acrimonious fixture of Russian-Ukrainian relations. In 2006, a similar dispute drove Russia to cut off gas to Ukraine for the first time, causing fuel interruptions in other parts of Europe and raising sharp concerns about Moscow's reliability as a provider of energy. Still, Europe remains heavily dependent upon Russian fuel.
