Moscow irked at Kiev’s EU overture

Article reports that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin threatened to review Russia’s ties with the European Union, March 2009, after Ukraine held talks in Brussels about refurbishing its Soviet-era gas pipeline system. He made the threat after Ukraine and the EU signed a declaration to invest billions of euros in improvements to the ageing transit pipes that carry Russian gas to the EU.

Deutsche Welle, 23.3.09: Putin Slams Europe Over Gas Deal With Ukraine http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4120411,00.html

European Commission: SPEECH/09/138: Speech of President Barroso at Conference on Modernisation of Ukraine’s Gas Transit System http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/09/138&format=PDF&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: DG External Relations: Energy: EU-Ukraine: Partners for securing gas to Europe http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/energy/eu_ukraine_en.htm

France24, 3.4.09: EU-Ukraine pipeline deal 'unfeasible', says Gazprom http://www.france24.com/en/20090403-european-union-ukraine-gas-plan-modernise-pipelines-unfeasible-russia-gazprom

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