Putin Signals Pause on Ukraine Deal as Medvedev Warns on Gas
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Russia will wait until Ukraine forms a new government before honoring agreements to reduce natural gas prices and channeling the remainder of a $15 billion rescue package to its neighbor, President Vladimir Putin said.
Ukraine’s request to defer payments for gas it’s importing at a discount this year “seriously changes the situation and should be taken into account as relations are built with a new government,” Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a cabinet meeting attended by Putin outside Moscow today. “Even at reduced prices, they tell us that they can’t pay.”