Ukraine on brink of gas cutoff

MOSCOW - Cash-strapped Ukraine sought to buy time in its effort to ensure continued gas supplies from Russia, making a $15 million payment Friday to Moscow as it waits for international rescue loans to arrive.

But Moscow says the sum will cover only an additional day, leaving a potential gas cutoff looming Tuesday.

That increases the pressure on Ukraine to strike a deal at a meeting Monday with Russian officials in Brussels - a showdown that comes amid rising fears in Europe that energy supplies could be threatened by a shutdown to Ukraine.

With Ukraine's economy on the brink of collapse and money from a $17.5 billion bailout deal from the International Monetary Fund that has not yet reached Ukrainian coffers, it is unclear how capable - or how willing - Kiev is to strike a long-term deal with Moscow.

Following a bruising dispute over prices and energy debt that raised fears of supply disruptions once again in Europe in the middle of winter, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in October requiring Kiev to pay in advance for gas shipments.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials warned last week that Russia would cut off supplies to Ukraine by the end of the month unless Kiev makes the prepayments.

Ukraine, meanwhile, accuses Russia of failing to abide by its contractual obligations. On Friday, Ukraine's state-run Naftogaz said Gazprom had for several days not been supplying it with the amount of gas for which it has paid.

"Naftogaz expects to receive the declared amount of gas paid for - no more and no less, and through agreed gas entry points," said company spokeswoman Alyona Osmolovskaya.

Analysts say Ukraine seems to be pursuing a strategy of survival as it hopes to renegotiate its supply deals in coming talks. Rather than a prepayment system, Ukraine would like a pay-as-you-go approach to its supplies, according to Andrew Neff, analyst at research firm IHS.

"They want to throw out the old contract," he said.