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...Russian leaders have also expressed concerns about the E.U.'s Eastern Partnership program, which was unveiled earlier this month and aims to deepen economic and political ties with six former Soviet states, including Ukraine. At the E.U.-Russia summit in Khabarovsk over the weekend, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said E.U. officials had "failed to persuade" him that it was not harmful to Russian interests. "What confuses me is that some states ... see this partnership as a partnership against Russia," he said...
...While the site implied that Russia was not ready to budge on any of the issues on the table, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev made the point exceedingly clear. "The Russian Federation has not given any assurances and will not give any," he said after requests from the European side that the January gas crisis - when Russia cut off supplies to Ukraine for over a payment dispute - not be repeated. Although smiles abounded and the talks were held at the Musical Comedy Theatre, just off Khabarovsk's main Karl Marx Prospekt, the tone was one of disagreement. (See pictures of Russians...
...coming months, Ukraine will have to spend $4 billion to buy the 19.5 billion cubic meters of gas it requires to fill its storage reservoirs before the cold comes again. But how it will afford the purchase from Russia remains unclear. "We have doubts about the solvency of Ukraine," Medvedev said, according to Russian news agency Interfax. "We are ready to help Ukraine, but we would like to see much of this work taken up by the European Union, that is, by those who are interested in the reliability and security of energy cooperation...
...Medvedev said Russia could help with some of the cost, but not all. "When it comes to credit, let us help syndicate the corresponding money for Ukraine, but this should not be only Russia doing this," he said. "At the end of the day, it is not us who have problems paying." Yet, observers see Medvedev's comment as more of a barb than as a viable suggestion. "I would be surprised if the E.U. felt that [helping Ukraine purchase gas from Russia] was an appropriate use of their funds," says Niall Trimble, director of The Energy Contract Company...
...basis for the energy dialogue between the E.U. and Russia in the future, and to emphasize the need for new ad hoc arrangements in the format proposed by Russia," says Dmitry Orlov, head of the Agency for Political and Economic Communications, a Moscow-based think tank. During the talks, Medvedev reiterated that Russia would not participate in the current version of the document. Because of Medvedev's steadfastness, Orlov believes the E.U. is "now ready to consider new positions on energy questions." (See TIME's special package on the Russia-Georgia...