Tens of thousands of homes across Europe continued to freeze last night after Russia and Ukraine again failed to agree on a deal to end their bitter dispute and resume gas deliveries to an increasingly desperate European Union.
The Czech prime minister and EU president, Mirek Topolanek, arrived in Moscow yesterday for talks with Vladimir Putin in an attempt to persuade the prime minister to restart supplies of gas to Europe, which have been cut off since last Wednesday.
But Russia was still refusing amid wrangling over the details of an EU monitoring mission. EU experts arrived in Ukraine on Friday and have taken up positions at gas monitoring stations in the east and west of Ukraine.
Both sides have failed to agree on the precise terms of the mission and insist that their experts be allowed to examine monitoring stations in each other's territory. Ukraine says Russia is trying to wrest control of its gas transportation system, a charge that Moscow denies.
Officials from Ukraine's state energy company, Naftogaz, said there had been "some progress" in difficult talks with Gazprom, its Russian counterpart. "The negotiations have moved ahead," said Naftogaz deputy chief executive Volodymyr Trykolych, adding that the Russians had changed their terms "several times".
During talks with the Czech prime minister, an angry Putin blamed Ukraine for the crisis, which has left more than a dozen European countries with no Russian gas at all. At least 11 people froze to death last week, including 10 in Poland, where temperatures have sunk to -25C. "Despite the fact that European institutions and you personally are making efforts to resolve the crisis, Ukraine has aggravated it," Putin said.
Yesterday Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, said Kiev would supply gas from its own reserves to Bulgaria and Moldova, two of the countries worst hit, but did not say how long this would last.
Gas experts suggest it will be several days before energy is restored to Europe once Russia restarts pumping gas. It would take 30 hours to reach Ukraine and a further 36 to reach the first EU countries, such as Slovakia, bordering Ukraine. It would be at least three days before normal supplies can be restored.
Meanwhile, throughout the Balkans the Orthodox Christmas of 2009 will be remembered for its bitter cold and a harsh reminder of the realities of the region's relationship with Russia.
"Lots of people have no way of heating themselves and it's -15C outside," said Vlasta Stankovic from Novi Sad in Serbia, one of several countries where Orthodox believers celebrated Christmas in freezing conditions. "The shops have sold out of electric heaters and the price of firewood has almost doubled - and it's almost impossible to find now, so great is the demand. In some ways its worse than during the 1999 Nato bombing in the Kosovo crisis - at least it was springtime then and not so cold."
In the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, lights on the façades of public buildings were turned off, heating on public transport was cut, and gas-powered buses and taxis ground to a halt. Ukrainian diplomats have warned that gas supplies to Europe can continue only when Kiev has resolved its dispute with Moscow. They describe Gazprom's current offer of $450 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas for 2009 as "ridiculous" and "reaching for the ceiling".
A deal has been made more difficult by Russian accusations that the Ukrainians have been stealing gas. Kiev denies this, saying it merely used "technical" gas last week to stop its system from collapsing. Russia says European monitors are needed to prevent any more theft.
Gazprom halted the shipment of gas intended for Ukraine on 1 January after negotiations over a new contract broke down. The main cause of the crisis seems to be a commercial dispute over gas transit and prices. But relations between the two countries have deteriorated since the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine which led to the election of a pro-western government in Kiev. Russia has been keen to restore its former power in what was the Soviet sphere.