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| Russia Tightens Pressure on Ukraine With Rise in Natural Gas Price | Russia Tightens Pressure on Ukraine With Rise in Natural Gas Price |
| (5 months later) | |
| MOSCOW — Even as American and Russian diplomats groped toward a settlement that would halt further Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Gazprom, the Russian energy company, stepped up the economic pressure on Tuesday by sharply raising the price it charges for natural gas. | |
| Gazprom, a state-controlled gas exporter, raised the price to $385 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas, the standard measure used in gas deals in Europe, from $268, an increase of about 44 percent. | Gazprom, a state-controlled gas exporter, raised the price to $385 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas, the standard measure used in gas deals in Europe, from $268, an increase of about 44 percent. |
| The price increase follows what analysts say is a long practice at Gazprom of punitive pricing for countries in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe that are at odds politically with Moscow, while offering discounts to governments seen as friendly. The policy is never stated openly, though, and the change on Tuesday was no exception. | The price increase follows what analysts say is a long practice at Gazprom of punitive pricing for countries in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe that are at odds politically with Moscow, while offering discounts to governments seen as friendly. The policy is never stated openly, though, and the change on Tuesday was no exception. |
| Aleksei B. Miller, Gazprom’s chief executive, attributed the price increase to an unpaid debt for gas, making no mention of the recent revolution in Ukraine. | Aleksei B. Miller, Gazprom’s chief executive, attributed the price increase to an unpaid debt for gas, making no mention of the recent revolution in Ukraine. |
| Having failed to pay the debt, Ukraine no longer qualified for a reduction that Gazprom had offered the Ukrainian national energy company in December, Mr. Miller said. That price break was an incentive Moscow granted to Ukraine in return for its rejecting a free-trade pact with the European Union, a move that touched off the protests that eventually doomed the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych. | Having failed to pay the debt, Ukraine no longer qualified for a reduction that Gazprom had offered the Ukrainian national energy company in December, Mr. Miller said. That price break was an incentive Moscow granted to Ukraine in return for its rejecting a free-trade pact with the European Union, a move that touched off the protests that eventually doomed the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych. |
| “The December discount on gas cannot be applied,” Mr. Miller told reporters in Moscow. | “The December discount on gas cannot be applied,” Mr. Miller told reporters in Moscow. |
| The jump in the price came as no surprise to the new authorities in Ukraine. They have already planned, as required under an International Monetary Fund loan program, to slash state subsidies that have kept gas prices artificially low for consumers and industry. | The jump in the price came as no surprise to the new authorities in Ukraine. They have already planned, as required under an International Monetary Fund loan program, to slash state subsidies that have kept gas prices artificially low for consumers and industry. |
| Over the weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, failed to agree on a diplomatic solution to the crisis during talks in Paris. On Monday, however, Russia’s military withdrew a battalion of about 500 troops from the border with Ukraine, a mostly symbolic reduction in a force of about 40,000. | Over the weekend, Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, failed to agree on a diplomatic solution to the crisis during talks in Paris. On Monday, however, Russia’s military withdrew a battalion of about 500 troops from the border with Ukraine, a mostly symbolic reduction in a force of about 40,000. |
| The army has said it is merely carrying out exercises, and Mr. Lavrov and other Russian officials have offered assurances that they do not intend to invade Ukraine. But President Vladimir V. Putin has said he will intervene to protect Russian speakers anywhere in Ukraine, if Ukrainian nationalists threaten them. | The army has said it is merely carrying out exercises, and Mr. Lavrov and other Russian officials have offered assurances that they do not intend to invade Ukraine. But President Vladimir V. Putin has said he will intervene to protect Russian speakers anywhere in Ukraine, if Ukrainian nationalists threaten them. |
| The gas price rise illustrated how, even if the Russian Army withdrew from the border, Russia would retain numerous economic weapons to wield against Ukraine, and it is widely expected to use them, deftly and unrelentingly, as it has for years. | The gas price rise illustrated how, even if the Russian Army withdrew from the border, Russia would retain numerous economic weapons to wield against Ukraine, and it is widely expected to use them, deftly and unrelentingly, as it has for years. |
| Russia has closed border crossings to trucks and has shut two chocolate factories in Russia owned by the leading Ukrainian presidential candidate, Petro Poroshenko. Purchases of missiles from a Ukrainian factory have been canceled. | Russia has closed border crossings to trucks and has shut two chocolate factories in Russia owned by the leading Ukrainian presidential candidate, Petro Poroshenko. Purchases of missiles from a Ukrainian factory have been canceled. |
| On Monday, Russia tried positive reinforcement in Crimea, the former Ukrainian territory that it now controls, doubling pensions and increasing public sector salaries, illustrating the financial benefits of allegiance with Russia. | On Monday, Russia tried positive reinforcement in Crimea, the former Ukrainian territory that it now controls, doubling pensions and increasing public sector salaries, illustrating the financial benefits of allegiance with Russia. |
| In Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, Parliament ordered law enforcement agencies on Tuesday to immediately disarm unofficial paramilitary groups, signaling growing resolve in the interim government to confront nationalists and other vigilantes who played a major role in the overthrow of Mr. Yanukovych more than a month ago. | In Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, Parliament ordered law enforcement agencies on Tuesday to immediately disarm unofficial paramilitary groups, signaling growing resolve in the interim government to confront nationalists and other vigilantes who played a major role in the overthrow of Mr. Yanukovych more than a month ago. |
| A bill, introduced and passed unanimously, ordered the Interior Ministry and the Security Service of Ukraine, the country’s successor to the K.G.B., to disarm the groups because of the “aggravation of the crime situation and systematic provocations on the part of foreigners in southeastern Ukraine and in Kiev.” | A bill, introduced and passed unanimously, ordered the Interior Ministry and the Security Service of Ukraine, the country’s successor to the K.G.B., to disarm the groups because of the “aggravation of the crime situation and systematic provocations on the part of foreigners in southeastern Ukraine and in Kiev.” |
| Tensions in the capital have grown between Arsen Avakov, the country’s new interior minister, and nationalist groups that continue to patrol the main squares of the city. The groups have mostly ignored an order to turn in their arms. | Tensions in the capital have grown between Arsen Avakov, the country’s new interior minister, and nationalist groups that continue to patrol the main squares of the city. The groups have mostly ignored an order to turn in their arms. |
| A member of Right Sector, one of the largest and best-organized ultranationalist groups in Kiev, was accused of opening fire with a pistol in the city’s main square on Monday evening during a dispute with members of other self-defense groups. | A member of Right Sector, one of the largest and best-organized ultranationalist groups in Kiev, was accused of opening fire with a pistol in the city’s main square on Monday evening during a dispute with members of other self-defense groups. |
| After the episode, police officers armed with automatic rifles surrounded the group’s headquarters at a downtown hotel and began negotiations. Just after dawn on Tuesday, members of the group, many in military fatigues and balaclavas, boarded buses and left for a “training ground” outside the city, according to local news reports. | After the episode, police officers armed with automatic rifles surrounded the group’s headquarters at a downtown hotel and began negotiations. Just after dawn on Tuesday, members of the group, many in military fatigues and balaclavas, boarded buses and left for a “training ground” outside the city, according to local news reports. |
| “What should the minister do?” Mr. Avakov wrote on Facebook, which has become a clearinghouse for information on police activity since he took office. “Correctly, I gave the order to blockade the gang and detain those who were guilty.” | “What should the minister do?” Mr. Avakov wrote on Facebook, which has become a clearinghouse for information on police activity since he took office. “Correctly, I gave the order to blockade the gang and detain those who were guilty.” |