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Ukraine agreed with Slovakia on shipping gas through the eastern European Union member as it seeks to lessen dependence on Russian supplies amid escalating clashes with pro-Russian forces in the countrys east.

Eustream AS, Slovakias pipeline operator, and UkrTransGas AC, Ukraines gas company, signed a memorandum allowing the idle Vojany pipeline, with an annual capacity of up to 9 billion cubic meters, to transport gas from western Europe to Ukraine. The sides will continue to explore the possibility of larger shipments that would fully cover current imports from Russia, according to the accord.

The EU and the U.S. are seeking new supply sources to Ukraine, including reversing pipelines, as the new Kiev government plans closer ties with the EU. Ukraine is facing the threat of a cut in Gazprom supplies after the company raised its prices 81 percent and demanded $2.2 billion in back payments and an additional $11.4 billion for gas the country was obliged to buy.

This is an important first step for diversification of Ukraines gas supplies, said European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso at the signing ceremony. It contributes to greater energy security in eastern Europe and the EU as a whole.

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The flows will begin in September at 22 million cubic meters a day, or 8 billion cubic meters annually, after 400 meters of new pipes are laid, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan told journalists after the ceremony.

Ukraine, which already receives gas from Poland, has demanded that the spare capacity of the main cross-border pipeline, a key transit route for Russian gas to the west, be used for reverse flow.

The EU will assist Ukraine and Slovakia in talks with Gazprom whose consent is needed for such a solution, Prodan said. The country will also soon start receiving gas from Hungary via a link with a capacity of 16 million cubic meters per day, Prodan said.

A Snapshot of Ukraine's Past and Future

More than 50 billion cubic meters of gas from Gazprom transited to European nations last year through the pipelines operated by Eustream. For its own needs, Slovakia imported 5.4 billion cubic meters.

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Ukraine, Slovakia Agree on Gas Flow to Cut Russian Supplies

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) The mayor of Ukraine's second-largest city was shot in the back Monday and hundreds of men attacked a peaceful pro-Ukraine rally with batons, bricks and stun grenades, wounding dozens as tensions soared in Ukraine's volatile east.

One presidential candidate said the mayor was deliberately targeted in an effort to destabilize the entire city of Kharkiv, a hub of 1.5 million people.

Russia's defense chief meanwhile assured U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a telephone call that Russia would not invade Ukraine, the Pentagon said.

Armed insurgents tacitly backed by Moscow are seeking more autonomy in eastern Ukraine and possibly even independence or annexation with Russia. Ukraine's acting government and the West have accused Russia of orchestrating the unrest, which they fear Moscow could use as a pretext for an invasion.

Ratcheting up the pressure, President Barack Obama's government levied new sanctions on seven Russian officials and 17 companies with links to President Vladimir Putin's inner circle. The U.S. also revoked licenses for some high-tech items that could be used by the Russian military.

In Brussels, the European Union moved to add 15 more officials to its Russian sanctions list to protest Moscow's meddling in Ukraine. That decision, reached by the ambassadors to the EU's 28 nations, was being formally confirmed by the EU's governments, officials told The Associated Press.

In the eastern city of Donetsk, about 1,000 demonstrators carrying Ukrainian flags marched through the streets to hold a pro-Ukrainian rally Monday night. They were attacked by several hundred armed men shouting "Russia!"

Police attempted to hold the pro-Russia men back but then largely stood aside as dozens of protesters were battered.

Hennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, was shot in the back Monday morning while cycling on the outskirts of the city, his office said. He underwent surgery and was reported by the hospital to be in "grave but stable" condition.

Officials have not commented on who could be behind the attack on the mayor but Kernes was a man who could have angered both sides.

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Ukraine mayor shot; US announces new sanctions

By Dow Jones Business News, April 28, 2014, 08:15:00 AM EDT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia--Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz signed a pipeline access deal with Slovakia's Eustream on Monday, bringing Kiev's energy independence from Moscow a step closer and paving the way for talks on a wider-ranging deal to wean Ukraine off Russian natural gas sales completely.

Eustream and its Ukrainian counterpart Ukrtransgaz, owned by Naftogaz, agreed to allow Ukraine to use a 20-year-olld but never used pipeline on Slovakia's eastern border with Uzhhorod in western Ukraine. The deal would provide Ukraine with an initial 3 billion cubic meters of gas annually before being increased to 10 billion cubic meters some time next year.

Eustream's Chief Executive Tomas Marecek said eastbound gas deliveries to Ukraine can start this autumn, following tests to determine maximum pressure levels and updates to machinery.

Maximum gas flows from Eustream, together with supplies from Poland and Hungary, could total up to 17 billion cubic meters next year, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said--which is about one-third of Ukraine's total annual demand of some 50 billion cubic meters.

Ukraine produces about 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. Even with supplies from the west of Europe, it will see a shortfall of roughly 13 billion cubic meters. The former Soviet state will therefore probably need to continue buying gas from Russia's OAO Gazprom. The energy firm has increased the price it charges Ukraine by 81% this month, to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters, well above the $387 average price for Gazprom customers in the EU.

Ukraine's Minister of Energy Yuriy Prodan Monday said Ukraine is willing to pay the "market price" for gas.

Monday's agreement calls for the European Commission to start talks with Gazprom sometime this year over Ukraine gaining access to one of Slovakia's main pipelines, which could cover the remaining Ukrainian demand.

There is no firm timeline on those talks, however, and final approval for Ukraine's access to a major Slovak pipeline rests with the Russian company which has the legal equivalent of a veto on proposals to allow reverse, or west-to-east flows in key pipelines crossing the European continent.

Ukraine and its European partners have been considering reversing the direction in which natural gas flows in bigger pipelines across Slovakia, which would allow supplies to Ukraine. But last week European Commissioner for Energy Gnther Oettinger said European Union analysis of contracts between Eustream and Russia's OAO Gazprom showed that Slovakia would be exposed to legal troubles if it halted westbound gas flows in any of its major pipelines.

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Ukraine Ready to Sign Slovakia Gas Deal

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