U.S. warns Russia against increasing gas price to UkraineApril 5, 2014 - 11:28 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States warned Russia not to use energy costs as an instrument of political coercion, after Moscow scrapped its last gas price discounts for Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier announced the move, effectively raising the price by $100 to $485 for every 1,000 cubic meters of gas. Asked about the decision, White House spokesman Jay Carney warned "markets should determine energy prices. A country should not use supply and pricing terms as tools of coercion to interfere in Ukraine or anywhere else," he said. He said Washington was encouraging its allies on Ukraine's western borders to reverse natural gas flows to let the Kiev government access more supplies if needed. Carney's warning mirrored that of Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday before Russia's latest move as he attended a U.S.-EU Energy Council meeting in Brussels. "No nation should use energy to stymie a people's aspirations," Kerry said. In another move, Russian energy giant Gazprom demanded that Ukraine's Naftogaz take immediate steps to pay for previous gas deliveries, valued at over $2.2 billion. Tensions between Moscow and Kiev are running high after a pro-Western government came to power in Kiev following the fall of president Viktor Yanukovych and Crimea’s annexation to Russia. Related links: Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |