EU ‘Not Responsible’ for Looming Ukraine-Russia Crisis
The Wall Street Journal blog today is running a piece on European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso’s statement that the natural-gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine could cause a major crisis in the European Union ‘in weeks, not months’.
Ukraine has already started stockpiling gas to ensure supplies for next winter, and Naftogaz had hoped to receive support from international financial institutions to fund a $4.2-billion loan that would enable the country to fill its underground storage facilities with Russian gas, but Barroso, speaking earlier today at summit of EU leaders in Brussels, says the EU simply doesn’t have enough cash. And that it isn’t their problem.
The European Union will not help Ukraine pay for Russian gas imports but international financial institutions may help avert a looming crisis, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
“That is not our responsibility, I should make that clear,” Barroso told reporters when asked about EU help at a summit of leaders on Friday.
