RUSSIA: Russia has plunged into a fresh gas row with neighbours Georgia and Ukraine as freezing temperatures strain supplies to the limits.
Georgia's prime minister Zurab Nogaideli has bluntly accused Moscow of dragging its feet over the repair of two gas pipelines blown up last weekend, saying Russia was subjecting his country to an "energy blockade".
Russia's state gas company Gazprom, meanwhile, has for the second time in a month accused Ukraine of stealing gas destined for western markets, promising unspecified retaliatory action.
Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said Ukraine was taking gas to which it was not entitled from the pipeline that passes through Ukraine to supply western Europe. "The shortfall in supplies to Europe is increasing daily and correspondingly the removal of gas in Ukraine is increasing."
Georgia and Ukraine have had strained relations with Moscow since each held pro-democracy upheavals, the so-called Rose and Orange revolutions, that ushered in pro-western governments. Now both governments say Russia is punishing them via energy blackmail, a charge Moscow denies.
This new disruption has come at the worst possible time, as freezing weather continues across eastern Europe. Ukraine, in which 151 people have died in five days of plummeting temperatures, has refused to cut consumption, though the government yesterday promised to cut supplies to factories.
Georgians are without gas for a sixth day after the two pipelines were destroyed, along with an electricity supply line. Gas canisters are being sold on the black market in the capital, Tblisi.