MOSCOW: The tension between Ukraine and Russia escalated further as Ukraine decided to stop buying Russian natural gas.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 and its support for separatist rebels in the east brought relations between the two countries to a post-Soviet low.
The fighting between Russia-backed rebels and government forces in eastern Ukraine killed more than 8,000 people and left parts of Ukraine’s industrial heartland in ruins.
Ukraine still has no access to the territories under rebel control as well as hundreds of kilometers of the Ukrainian border with Russia.
Ukraine has since been trying to cut its dependence on Russia gas, buying from European nations that had bought it from Russia at a lower price.
Ukrainian said it was its own decision to stop buying gas from Russia after it was offered better prices from other European countries. Those other countries import gas from Russia but can pipe it back to Ukraine.
