Gazprom: Ukraine Threatens to Seize Russian Gas

Gazprom again warned it would cut gas supplies to Ukraine if it fails to pay off $2.1 billion debt for Russian gas supplies by midnight.

Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz has said it paid $1.5 billion to settle its debt for Russian gas imports. Medvedev said that the sum has reached the accounts of Rosukrenergo, a Russian-Ukrainian intermediary based in Switzerland, and voiced hope it would soon reach Gazprom's accounts.

But Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said that Ukraine needs to make good on the rest of its debt. Fines owed by Ukraine for accumulating the debt account for the rest of the sum.

Kupriyanov said that Gazprom and Naftogas officials are continuing talks on a contract for next year deliveries. Ukraine, crippled by a devastating financial crisis, has resisted a move by Gazprom to more than double next year's price for gas to $418 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Kupriyanov warned that Ukraine faces cutoff of supplies at 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) Thursday if no agreement is reached.

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Associated Press writer Maria Danilova contributed to this report from Kiev, Ukraine.