A new gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine?

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has accused his Ukrainian colleague Viktor Yushchenko of pursuing anti-Russian policies and threatened a new gas conflict. In the future Ukraine will be even more open to Russian extorsion, writes Die Presse: "Currently 80 percent of Russian gas deliveries cross Ukraine. The Nabucco pipeline project, which is to supply gas from Central Asia to Europe, would decrease Europe's dependence on Moscow. Russia has countered with the South Stream project, which is to bring Russian gas over the Balkans to Europe. And Germany is pursuing the North Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea, to pipe Russian gas straight to Germany. All of these routes avoid Ukraine. For Kiev that is bad news. If Russia can turn off the gas to Ukraine without endangering gas deliveries to the EU, that would mean for Kiev, to paraphrase a slogan used against nuclear opponents: 'opponents of Russia freeze in the dark this winter'."

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