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A man boils water for tea outside a damaged apartment building, disconnected from cooking gas and electricity, in Debaltseve, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. After weeks of relentless fighting, which inflicted severe damage to most buildings the embattled Ukrainian rail hub of Debaltseve fell last week to Russia-backed separatists. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

MOSCOW (AP) Cash-strapped Ukraine sought to buy time in its effort to ensure continued gas supplies from Russia, making a $15 million payment Friday to Moscow as it waits for international rescue loans to arrive.

But Moscow says the sum will cover only an additional day, leaving a potential gas cutoff looming Tuesday.

That increases the pressure on Ukraine to strike a deal at a meeting Monday with Russian officials in Brussels a showdown that comes amid rising fears in Europe that energy supplies could be threatened by a shutdown to Ukraine.

With Ukraine's economy on the brink of collapse and money from a 15.5 billion-euro ($17.5 billion) bailout deal from the International Monetary Fund that has not yet reached Ukrainian coffers, it is unclear how capable or how willing Kiev is to strike a long-term deal with Moscow.

Following a bruising dispute over prices and energy debt that raised fears of supply disruptions once again in Europe in the middle of winter, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in October requiring Kiev to pay in advance for gas shipments.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and other government officials warned earlier this week that Russia would cut off supplies to Ukraine by the end of the month unless Kiev makes the due pre-payments.

Ukraine, meanwhile, accuses Russia of failing to abide by its contractual obligations. On Friday, Ukraine's state-run Naftogaz said Gazprom had for several days not been supplying it with the amount of gas for which it has paid.

"Naftogaz expects to receive the declared amount of gas paid for no more and no less, and through agreed gas entry points," said company spokeswoman Alyona Osmolovskaya.

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Ukraine says it pays for gas, Russia demands more