Natural gas supplies to Ukraine and the European Union were stable on Tuesday after a Russian deadline passed for Kiev to pay off some of its debts or face a supply cut, sources at Russian exporter Gazprom said.
The gas dispute is at the heart of a crisis between Russia and Ukraine, and failing to resolve it would fuel tensions and set back peace moves that are gaining momentum after weeks of violence in east Ukraine.
Russia had given Ukraine until 10:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) to pay, but seemed to have pulled back from the deadline after officials said gas talks brokered by the European Commission would continue in Brussels later on Tuesday or Wednesday.
With Ukraine looking poised to pay off more of its debt, talks have stalled on price, threatening possible supply disruptions to the European Union, which gets about a third of its gas imports from Russia, almost half of it via Ukraine.
A source at Gazprom said Russia was supplying Ukraine with the usual volumes of gas, and may have even increased it recently.
via CNBC
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