Moscow, January 1 (Interfax) - Ukraine wages gas war on Russia in order to spoil Russian-European relations, Effective Policy Foundation head Gleb Pavlovsky said.

"The essence of the game started by Kyiv is to create an artificial crisis and to blame Russia for it, as a country which create tensions not only on bilateral relations but which threatens European security," Pavlovsky told Interfax on Thursday.

"Ukraine was preparing for this situation in advance having filled its underground gas storages," the expert said.

"Ukraine's gas balance, given industrial recess in eastern parts of the country, fully meets the demand for fuel, and if we are told that Russia, by cutting gas deliveries, strangles Ukraine with hunger and cold, this will be a barefaced lie," he said.

Ukraine's behavior in the gas dispute with Russia is not European, the expert said. "Ukraine deliberately creates the crisis, blackmailing Russia," he said.

Pavlovsky also pointed at the fact that the current problem in the area of gas deliveries to Europe makes the issue of their diversification topical. "The protracted construction of the Nord Stream pipeline, as well as the southern route, makes Russia a hostage of Ukraine's policy, which led the country to the verge of default," Pavlovsky said.