Week1-Ukraine Crisis

Gas Deal Eludes Russia and Ukraine, but Talks Will Continue

By JAMES KANTEROCT. 21, 2014

BRUSSELS — Russian and Ukrainian officials meeting here on Tuesday failed to reach a deal that would restart Russian deliveries of natural gas during the coming winter.
The dispute, which focuses on how much and how soon Ukraine should pay Russia for gas it has already consumed, and the terms for future deliveries, has raised concerns in Europe that supplies of energy from Russia that are piped through Ukraine could be interrupted this winter.
Günther H. Oettinger, the European Union energy commissioner who has already brokered several rounds of talks, told a news conference that he aimed to sign a final agreement next Wednesday.During the coming days “everyone has got some homework to do,” Mr. Oettinger said late Tuesday, after talks that lasted most of the day. But “we have some prospects of a secure supply situation this winter for all European citizens,” he said.The standoff between Russia and Ukraine is delicate for the European Union, which is reliant on the shipment of gas through Ukraine for about a fifth of its gas supplies. Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas giant, shut the taps in 2006 and 2009 because of disputes with Ukraine, leaving many homes in Central and Eastern Europe without heat.Russia raised its gas prices to Ukraine early this year, and Gazprom halted exports in June because of the size of Ukraine’s outstanding bills. But the Ukrainians have accused the Russians of deliberately setting unfair terms to penalize the government in Kiev for tying itself more closely to the West.
The gas feud represents another front between Ukraine and Russia. Skirmishing in eastern Ukraine has continued in recent weeks between pro-Russian rebels and forces allied with the government in Kiev despite a cease-fire.Key sticking points in the gas talks have been how to calculate the size of Ukraine’s debt and how quickly it should be repaid. One remaining question is whether the European Union will step in to help Ukraine pay its bills.Of the $3.1 billion that Ukraine was agreeing to pay toward settling its debt, an amount of $1.6 billion “is still lacking,” Alexander Novak, the Russian energy minister, told reporters.“This cash gap requires funding,” said Mr. Novak, who suggested that the European Union “should examine the situation and share some of that burden.”For the Ukrainian energy minister, Yuri Prodan, the main contention appeared to be the terms on which it had agreed to buy further supplies of gas, at $385 per 1,000 cubic meters.“The situation needs to be regulated in a fashion so as to continue until spring of next year,” said Mr. Prodan, who called for a binding agreement locking in that price.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/business/international/gas-deal-eludes-russia-and-ukraine-but-talks-will-continue.html?_r=0

Structure of the Lead：

WHO- Russian and Ukrainian officials

WHEN- on Tuesday

WHAT- meeting

WHERE- Brussels

HOW-not given

WHY- failed to reach a deal that would restart Russian deliveries of natural gas during the coming winter.

Key Words:

1.      standoff:僵局

2.      halt:暫停

3.      penalize:【律】對……處刑；規定……應處刑使不利；對……不公平

4.      skirmish: 進行小規模戰鬥