EU tells Putin to quit gas scaremongering

Europe on Saturday told Russian leader Vladimir Putin that heating for tens of millions of elderly EU citizens is no electoral plaything.

Europe on Saturday told Russian leader Vladimir Putin to quit scaremongering over its gas supplies, saying heating for tens of millions of elderly EU citizens is no electoral plaything.

"It's all part of the Ukraine presidential election campaign" which culminates in a January vote, said a European Union commission spokesman after the Russian premier warned on Friday of fresh Ukrainian payment problems.

"We are not going to get dragged into an election campaign and it is not for European citizens to suffer because of any potential conflict between Russia and Ukraine over payment for gas supplies destined for Europe.

"We have not received any notification from Moscow of potential problems in our gas supply" under a formal mechanism put in place after chaos in past chapters of the recurrent crisis, the spokesman stressed.

We are not going to get dragged into an election campaign and it is not for European citizens to suffer because of any potential conflict between Russia and Ukraine over payment for gas supplies destined for Europe.

European Union commission spokesman

Russian gas supplies were cut off to a dozen European countries for two weeks in January as part of a bitter dispute over payments and prices between Russia and Ukraine.

"It seems we are again having problems with the payment of our energy supplies which is extremely sad," said Putin.

The Russian premier said his Kiev counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko told him that Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, "is blocking normal cooperation between the central bank... and the Ukrainian government and blocking the transfer of appropriate funds.

"The question is: what are we to do?" Putin underlined.

Tymoshenko is running against arch-foe Yushchenko as well as the more pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich in a presidential poll, the first round of which is scheduled for January 17.