TODAY: Putin gives Ukraine a deadline for gas prepayment; Kiev comes back with a reduced price; Europe and U.S. poised to sharpen sanctions as Western oil companies suffer; Rogozin threatens to deactivate GPS infrastructure; interview with former U.S. ambassador McFaul; gay rights protest to go ahead despite warnings; Putin’s popularity still on the up; Snowden working for Russia?

President Vladimir Putin published a letter yesterday advising Ukraine to pay for gas supplies in advance if it wants to receive future deliveries securely, and urging European leaders to do more to help Ukraine financially, presumably to help Kiev meet its payment deadline of June 1.  Ukraine’s Deputy Energy Minister says his country is ready to pay $4 billion to Russia by the end of this month, which would effectively mean a fixed price of $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters (Gazprom’s current price is $485).  All the same, the Russian Energy Minister says there is no possibility that Ukraine will actually pay, due to its ‘complete insolvency’ – a direct contradiction to statements made by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier this week.  Europe and the U.S. are in agreement that Russia should face further sanctions if there is any Kremlin interference in Ukraine’s presidential elections later this month, promising next time to use ‘a scalpel rather than a hammer’.  But Steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal says it is lobbying the E.U. not to intensify sanctions against Russia: ‘We depend on Russia for iron ore, coal and gas.’  Among Western companies, those that are being hit hardest by current sanctions are oil companies like BP and Total, which rely heavily on their Russian ties and Putin-loyalist allies – BP, for example, has pledged to continue working with Rosneft ‘in whatever the appropriate manner is’.