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Moscow not to ratify Energy Charter Treaty

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  • Moscow not to ratify Energy Charter Treaty

    Moscow not to ratify Energy Charter Treaty
    22.05.2009 23:08 GMT+04:00

    /PanARMENIAN.Net/ A tense summit meeting between Russia and the
    European Union has failed to provide assurances Europe will not face
    another mid-winter gas cutoff. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has
    also warned that stronger European ties with former Soviet republics
    should not turn into an anti-Russian coalition.
    Meeting in the city of Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East, Russian and
    EU leaders failed to bridge differences that block assurances of
    reliable gas supplies to Europe. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev
    said his country has no problem supplying the fuel or honoring its
    delivery commitments to Europe. He blamed the continent's recent
    energy disruptions on the inability of Ukraine to pay for its own
    supplies. About 20 percent of Europe's supply of natural gas comes
    from Russia through Ukrainian pipelines.
    Mr. Medvedev said assurances should be provided by those who pay for
    the gas, and there is room here for cooperation.
    The Russian leader noted that if Ukraine has the money, fine, though
    he expresses doubt that it does.
    He said partners in such circumstances help their partners. President
    Medvedev said Russia is prepared to help Ukraine, but wants a
    considerable part of this work to be assumed by the European Union and
    countries interested in reliable and secure energy cooperation.
    Russia is also seeking to replace the so-called Energy Charter Treaty,
    a 1990's agreement on integration of European and former Soviet energy
    sectors. Moscow signed, but did not ratify the treaty, which would
    provide foreign commercial access to Russian pipelines. The European
    Union does not want the Charter scrapped, but EU Commission President
    Jose Manuel Barroso said Russia has put forth interesting suggestions.
    "We could consider those proposals in the process of revision of the
    Energy Charter Treaty," he said, VOA News reported.
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