TODAY: Russia in talks with Ukraine and EU to attempt to solve the gas crisis; Bulgaria and others in state of emergency; Orthodox Christmas.

The EU, Russia and Ukraine are holding talks today, following preliminary negotiations last night, to try and find a resolution to the dispute which, according to EU Commission President Jose Manual Barroso, is taking the EU’s gas supply ‘hostage‘.  Both sides have ‘agreed in principle‘ to allow EU monitors to investigate gas flows on both sides of the dispute, to discern how much gas Russia sends to Ukraine and whether or not Ukraine is allowing that gas to reach its paying customers.  ‘Any pretence that this is a commercial row between a gas supplier and a customer is ridiculous.’  Is Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s using the gas war to align his country with the West?  Or is it simply a question of not having the funds to pay for gas at European market prices?  Read a comprehensive overview of the situation at The Economist.