You're reading: Peskov: Russia to hold talks with EU gas consumers

Russia will continue talks with European countries which receive its natural gas, to discuss the problems outlined by President Vladimir Putin in his letter to a number of European leaders, the president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

“Barroso has sent a reply because, as he put it, it was authorized by
the EU countries. At the same time, bilateral contacts are taking place
with the countries that are not EU members. There are six of them, I
think. Talks are still ahead,” Peskov told reporters in St. Petersburg.

On April 10 Peskov said that Putin sent a letter to European leaders
over the problem of the Ukrainian gas debt. In it he expressed his
extreme concern over the situation and suggested urgent measures to
resolve the problem.

The letter underscores that “the Ukrainian debt is an urgent
problem,” Peskov said. Failure to resolve it in the very near future
will force Russia to take emergency measures. The Russian president has
proposed European partners dialogue mechanisms for an urgent discussion
of the current situation.