EU considering gas crisis sanctions

The European Union is considering the possibility of imposing sanctions related to the gas crisis, members of the European Parliament have warned. In a press statement from the Romanian Social-Democratic delegation in the European Parliament, it said that such a possibility was discussed on Tuesday at the second extraordinary joint meeting of the European Parliament's Commission on Foreign Affairs and the delegations for the relations with Ukraine and Russia, co-chaired by Romanian Social-Democrat MEP Adrian Severin. At the meeting, the members of the European Parliament have demanded “immediate resumption of Russian gas shipments through Ukraine” and warned that, otherwise, “the European Union could adopt sanctions”, the press release reads, without mentioning what kind of sanctions, on whom, and who exactly would impose them. “The Russian delegation has again accused Ukraine of stealing Russian gas destined for the EU member countries, underlining that the Ukrainians pay a lower price for gas that the other European states. At the same time, Russia has expressed readiness to offer Ukraine higher transit rates”, it was said. At the same time, Ukraine insists that Russia has failed to fulfill its obligations to the European consumers and that no blame can be placed on Ukraine until EU buys gas directly at the border with Russia, as there's no proper measuring system for the transit network. Elsewhere in Europe, EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday suggesteed European companies should take legal action if the flow of Russian gas to Europe is not urgently resumed. “The current situation is unacceptable and incredible”, Barroso told the European Parliament. The Russian concern Gazprom opened gas taps on January 13 in the morning, but several ours later it was reported that Ukraine had blocked the flow of gas westward. Kiev denied the allegations, saying Russia itself had failed to provide the necessary volumes of gas for it to be pumped onward.