Russia worried Ukraine may revise gas deal - Putin's spokesman
Interfax
January 27, 2009
Moscow is worried that the gas agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine on 19 January may be revised because of disagreements among the Ukrainian leadership, Dmitriy Peskov, the spokesman for Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, has said.
"Unfortunately, we still have certain doubts that, like in a nightmare, the agreement signed just a week ago may be revised only because of disagreements among the country's leaders," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying in an interview with the radio station Golos Rossii (Voice of Russia) on 27 January.
Peskov also said Russia expected Europe to establish who is to blame for the halt in gas supplies to European consumers via Ukraine in January 2009.
"We would of course prefer to hear from European countries a very serious and strict evaluation of the issue regarding who is responsible for the suspension of transit," Interfax quoted him in another report. Peskov said blamed the problem on the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
"In fact, the Orange Revolution led to the situation in Kiev which we see now. The so-called Orange Revolution was openly supported by various countries, including the USA," he said.
He added that Prime Minister Putin "has never concealed his dissatisfaction, has never concealed that he cannot understand why the USA adopted such a unilateral stance, why the USA is playing such an unconstructive role in determining Ukraine's future".