EU Calls for Russia-Ukraine Gas Agreement

The European Union is encouraging Russia and Ukraine to end their dispute over natural gas prices that is causing shortages in Europe.

The dispute started when Russia’s state-owned Gazprom raised the price of 1,000 cubic meters of gas from $50 to $230 and Ukraine refused to pay.

Russia claims Ukraine has siphoned off $25 million worth of gas from a pipeline crossing its territory, which Ukraine denies.

However France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Slovakia all reported drops in supply through pipelines that cross Ukraine, and Russia says it is sending an extra 95 million cubic meters a day to make up for the shortage.

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told the BBC that he was monitoring the situation and invited Russia and Ukraine to resume negotiations. EU energy officials are set to discuss the crisis at a meeting Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has indicated it would call for arbitration.