Russian Analyst Says Ukraine Must Choose Between West, Moscow
RIA-Novosti
Moscow, 4 January: Russian experts view the gas agreements with Ukraine as a great victory for Russia and for the path it has chosen.
The director of the Institute for Political Research, Sergey Markov, believes the citizens of Ukraine were Russia's main ally in the gas dispute with Kiev.
Director of the Institute for CIS Countries (MP) Konstantin Zatulin believes that the price Ukraine is paying for gas would be much lower if talks with Ukraine had been carried out in a more constructive way.
"Gazprom's fundamental demand that there be a switch to objective market prices in gas transactions with Ukraine was met during the talks. Ukraine had to agree to the price for gas, which, at the final stage, Gazprom set at 230 dollars per 1,000 cu. m," Zatulin said in an interview to RIA-Novosti.
"The result of the talks was that Ukraine's Naftohaz had to agree to the price proposed by Gazprom," he said.
The political analyst recalled that at the beginning of the talks, which lasted several months, Ukraine had been offered a different price - 160 dollars per 1,000 cu. m. At the time Turkmen gas was being sold to Ukraine for 44 dollars per 1,000 cu. m.
"Thus, the average price would have been much lower than 95 dollars," Zatulin said.
He believes "relations between Russia and Ukraine have become more clear as a result of the gas dispute".
Zatulin says that now Ukraine faces a choice - to strengthen relations with the West or with Russia.
"Serious debate has now started in Ukraine about what choice the country should make. The people of Ukraine have constantly been kept away from this question, and told that Ukraine would be in both camps. Now the people of Ukraine face this choice," the political analyst said.