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OAO Gazprom (OGZD), Russias natural-gas exporter, sent Ukraine a bill for an estimated $1.7 billion of imports next month, saying it will cut off supplies if the neighboring country doesnt start paying in advance.

Ukraines June bill was based on average deliveries of 114 million cubic meters a day, at the second-quarter price of $485 per 1,000 cubic meters, Sergei Kupriyanov, a spokesman for Gazprom in Moscow, said today.

Payment is due by June 2, and starting from the following day, Ukraine will only get what it pays for, Kupriyanov said.

Russia is to stop to use natural gas as a new type of Russian weapon, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said today in Brussels. We are ready for the market-based approach.

Ukraine depends on Russia for about half its gas, making energy a battleground in the wider struggle between the two countries. Because 15 percent of the European Unions gas passes through the Ukrainian pipeline network, a cutoff could disrupt shipments to the rest of the region.

A Snapshot of Ukraine's Past and Future

Gazproms demands are a premature signal, Vygaudas Usackas, head of the EU delegation to Russia, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television today. The EU is eager to work with Russia to calm the Ukraine crisis, he said.

Russias relations with the U.S. and EU have sunk to the lowest since the fall of the Iron Curtain. They have backed the Ukrainian government in accusing Russia of fomenting unrest in the country before a presidential election on May 25.

Ukraine has the ability to pay off at least part of its debt after receiving the first $3.2 billion of a $17 billion International Monetary Fund aid package last week, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday. He ordered Gazprom to send Ukraine a June bill, as the company claims $3.51 billion in overdue payments for fuel delivered in 2013 and through April. NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy, the state oil and gas company, doesnt recognize the full debt.

Ukraine has been boosting imports of Russian gas since April 17, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin first warned of the impending move to prepayments and possible disruptions in fuel supplies to Europe.

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Ukraine Boosts Russian Gas Imports as Gazprom Deadline Looms

KIEV, Ukraine An insurgent ambush killed six soldiers Tuesday in eastern Ukraine as Germany moved to jumpstart a possible plan toward peace that includes launching a dialogue on decentralizing the government in Kiev.

Ukraine's leadership appeared cool to the plan and U.S. officials view its prospects for success skeptically. But some analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin is more likely to accept a deal that doesn't come from Washington

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Ukraine to try to broker a quick launch of talks between the central government and pro-Russia separatists. That would be a first step in implementing a "road map" drawn up by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe aimed at settling the crisis.

The OSCE is a trans-Atlantic security and rights group that includes Russia and the U.S., whose sparring over each other's role in Ukraine sometimes overshadows events on the ground.

Speaking in Brussels, acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk thanked the OSCE for its plan but said Ukraine has drawn up its own "road map" for ending the crisis and noted the people of his country should settle the issue themselves.

A settlement has been elusive, as insurgents in eastern Ukraine seize police stations and government buildings. Two regions in the east have declared themselves independent after a weekend referendum, and one of them, Donetsk, has appealed for annexation by Russia.

Ukrainian forces have mounted an offensive to try to put down the armed insurgents. On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said six soldiers were killed by insurgents who ambushed a convoy. The separatist leader in Luhansk, one of the regions that declared independence, was shot and wounded, insurgents said.

The U.S. and Western European countries accuse Russia of fomenting the unrest, with the goal of destabilizing the country or seeking a pretext to invade and seize eastern regions, which are largely Russian-speaking and the heartland of Ukrainian industry.

Russia in turn denounces Ukraine's caretaker government, which took power after pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February following months of large protests. Moscow calls it a nationalist junta encouraged by Washington.

Western countries have slapped an array of sanctions on Russia both for its alleged role in the east and for its annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that voted to split from Ukraine in March.

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Ukraine skeptical about talks; 6 soldiers killed

KIEV, Ukraine An insurgent ambush killed six soldiers Tuesday in eastern Ukraine as Germany moved to jumpstart a possible plan toward peace that includes launching a dialogue on decentralizing the government in Kiev.

Ukraine's leadership appeared cool to the plan and U.S. officials view its prospects for success skeptically. But some analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin is more likely to accept a deal that doesn't come from Washington

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Ukraine to try to broker a quick launch of talks between the central government and pro-Russia separatists. That would be a first step in implementing a "road map" drawn up by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe aimed at settling the crisis.

The OSCE is a trans-Atlantic security and rights group that includes Russia and the U.S., whose sparring over each other's role in Ukraine sometimes overshadows events on the ground.

Speaking in Brussels, acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk thanked the OSCE for its plan but said Ukraine has drawn up its own "road map" for ending the crisis and noted the people of his country should settle the issue themselves.

A settlement has been elusive, as insurgents in eastern Ukraine seize police stations and government buildings. Two regions in the east have declared themselves independent after a weekend referendum, and one of them, Donetsk, has appealed for annexation by Russia.

Ukrainian forces have mounted an offensive to try to put down the armed insurgents. On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said six soldiers were killed by insurgents who ambushed a convoy. The separatist leader in Luhansk, one of the regions that declared independence, was shot and wounded, insurgents said.

The U.S. and Western European countries accuse Russia of fomenting the unrest, with the goal of destabilizing the country or seeking a pretext to invade and seize eastern regions, which are largely Russian-speaking and the heartland of Ukrainian industry.

Russia in turn denounces Ukraine's caretaker government, which took power after pro-Russia president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February following months of large protests. Moscow calls it a nationalist junta encouraged by Washington.

Western countries have slapped an array of sanctions on Russia both for its alleged role in the east and for its annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that voted to split from Ukraine in March.

Excerpt from:
Ukraine: 6 soldiers ambushed, killed in the east

Pro-Russian separatists claim win in eastern Ukraine independence vote
Nearly 90% of voters in the Donetsk region voted in favor of independence from Ukraine and 10% voted against it, an election official claimed Monday. Pro-Russian separatists eager to declare...

By: Today World News

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Pro-Russian separatists claim win in eastern Ukraine independence vote - Video

After Chaotic Autonomy Votes, Negotiations Could Be Sole Path to Prevent Ukraine #39;s Disintegration
http://www.democracynow.org - Pro-Russian groups have claimed a landslide victory for a hastily organized referendum on self-rule in two parts of eastern Ukraine. The vote was held in the regions...

By: democracynow

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After Chaotic Autonomy Votes, Negotiations Could Be Sole Path to Prevent Ukraine's Disintegration - Video