[thackney]

The reason for the collapse in talks: Kiev wants to pay $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas - the price it had been offered when Yanukovich was in power - but, in a compromise last week, said it would agree to pay $326 for an interim period until a lasting deal was reached. Moscow had sought to keep the price at the 2009 contract level of $485 per 1,000 cubic meters, but had offered to waive an export duty, bringing down prices by about one-fifth to $385, which brings it broadly into line with what Russia charges other European countries.

In other words, the delta was less than $60, and certainly a “fair” offer to Ukraine considering it is what Europe pays.

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3168269/posts

[mvonfr]

The only question is who is responsible for the talk's failure: it is either Kiev or Obama (seeking a larger conflict).

Quite obviously not Putin or the EU.

[Ingtar]

Which would have been fine, I suppose. But then, how much should Ukraine be able to charge for the transit of gas across their country?

[Ingtar]

Just remember, the $326 was proposed by the EU. Soviet Russia never agreed to it.

[grania]

Agreeing to the deal for pre-payment of gas didn’t even involve paying Russia for all of the gas it hadn’t paid for the past few years. All this while the Kiev gov wages war on Russia’s interests in Ukraine.