A summit gathering Russian, Ukrainian, EU and other leaders began in Moscow Saturday in a new push to end the gas dispute between Moscow and Kiev that has left millions of Europeans without heating in the depths of winter for more than a week, Xinhua reported.
Those attending the talks included Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Czech Industry and Trade Minister Martin Riman.
While EU spokesman Johannes Laitenberger has described the talks as the "last and best chance" to resolve the gas crisis, Medvedev said at the start of the meeting in the Kremlin that efforts to settle the crisis had so far yielded no results.
The Russian leader hoped the meeting would set up a permanent mechanism to ensure the uninterrupted transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine.
Russia cut off gas supplies via Ukraine to Europe on Jan. 7, one week after it halted supplies to Ukraine over the price of Russian gas Kiev buys.
Russian gas giant Gazprom reopened its taps to Europe on Tuesday morning under a three-way agreement signed by the EU, Ukraine and Russia, but no gas reached Europe.
Russia accused Ukraine of blocking the gas flow, while Ukraine argued that Russia's choice of the gas route was technically "unacceptable."