Putin hopes Ukraine will meet its oil transit obligations

[Kshasty]

Source: RIA Novosti

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he hopes Ukraine will meet its obligation to transit Russian oil to Europe despite a dispute on transit fees.

Slovakia's government said on Monday that Russia had warned the EU of a possible cutoff of supplies to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary due to transit fee disagreements with Ukraine.

The warning echoed the two-week cutoff of Russian natural gas supplies to the European Union in early January this year amid a price and debt dispute between the two ex-Soviet neighbors.

Ukraine later in the day moved to calm fears, saying the dispute will not affect supplies to Eastern Europe. And Russia's Energy Ministry said the deal for 2010 will be reached in the next two days. The ministry said Russia had warned the EU of a possible disruption in line with its obligations of "early warning" about potential energy risks.

Read more: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091229/157412113.html