Russia and Ukraine reach tentative gas deal in tough Milan talks

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(Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine made progress on Friday towards resolving a dispute over gas supplies in time for winter, but European leaders said Moscow still had to do much more to prop up a fragile ceasefire and end fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The mooted deal could re-open Russian gas to Ukraine cut off since June, and ensure supply to European buyers further west before demand surges in the cold months and stocks run down. It came as something of a surprise after talks in Milan that the Kremlin said were "full of misunderstandings and disagreements".

Russia's Vladimir Putin told reporters that a deal ensuring gas supplies "at least for the winter" had been reached after a final one-on-one meeting with Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko, which followed talks attended by European leaders.

"We agreed on all the parameters of this deal," Putin said, but he urged European countries to help Ukraine meet a debt for gas, which he said stood at $4.5 billion.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/17/us-ukraine-crisis-meeting-idUSKCN0I52YO20141017

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1. Russia, Ukraine reach surprise gas deal in Milan talks

October 18, 2014 - 12:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia and Ukraine made progress on Friday, Oct 17 towards resolving a dispute over gas supplies in time for winter, but European leaders said Moscow still had to do much more to prop up a fragile ceasefire, Reuters reported.

The mooted deal could re-open Russian gas to Ukraine cut off since June, and ensure supply to European buyers further west before demand surges in the cold months and stocks run down. It came as something of a surprise after talks in Milan that the Kremlin said were "full of misunderstandings and disagreements".

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/183692/

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2. Ukraine troops struggle with nation's longtime neglect of military

Militia commander Yuri Bereza and his 150 Ukrainian irregulars were closing in on pro-Moscow separatists in their last stronghold in this eastern city when Russian troops and armor thundered in out of nowhere to cut them off in the suburb of Ilovaisk.

No satellite or drone surveillance detected the sudden movement of the Russian columns. No word of the impending attack had been radioed from the border guard base the invaders had to have passed. Neither did any of the allied soldiers who were supposed to be bringing up the rear inform Bereza's fighters that they had been cut off. In fact, the 700-strong contingent of government recruits had deserted en masse.

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-ukraine-neglected-army-20141018-story.html#page=1

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3. Ukraine says it agrees on interim gas price with Russia

(Reuters) - Ukraine's and Russia's leaders have reached a preliminary agreement on a price for gas supplies this winter but Kiev may need international help to pay, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Saturday.

Poroshenko met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Milan on Friday to discuss the conflict in Ukraine's eastern regions, where pro-Russian separatists are fighting Kiev government forces.

Russia cut off gas supply to Ukraine in mid-June following more than two years of dispute on the price. Russia said Ukraine had to pay off large debts for previously-supplied gas before it would resume supply.

&quot We) reached an agreement," Poroshenko said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels. "Until March 31 we will fix the price at $385."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/18/us-ukraine-crisis-gas-idUSKCN0I70Q820141018

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4. Ukraine and Russia make breakthrough on gas

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko has confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Russia on a provisional price for gas deliveries during the coming winter months.

Poroshenko on Saturday said the deal was agreed at talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Milan on Friday, and he hoped it would finally end the gas dispute between the two countries.

He added that he hoped the solution would be finalised before October 21, ahead of scheduled talks in Brussels.

"On the basis of consultations, I can say that Ukraine will have the gas, will have heating," Poroshenko said in an interview broadcast on Ukrainian television late on Saturday.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/10/ukraine-russia-make-breakthrough-gas-20141019604510354.html

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5. Germany intelligence service concludes pro-Russian rebels downed MH17 passenger plane

BERLIN - Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency has concluded that pro-Russian rebels are to blame for the downing of Malaysia Airline MH17 in Ukraine in July, Der Spiegel weekly reported on Sunday, the first European agency to say so.

The crash over pro-Russian rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on July 17 killed all 298 passengers and crew and led to a further deterioration of ties between the West and Moscow, who are in dispute over Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis.

Gerhard Schindler, president of the BND, told a secret parliamentary committee on security affairs earlier this month that separatists had used a Russian Buk missile defence system from a Ukrainian base to fire a rocket that exploded directly next to the Malyasia Air plane, Der Spiegel reported.

"It was pro-Russian separatists," the magazine quoted him as saying.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/germany-intelligence-service-concludes-prorussian-rebels-downed-mh17-passenger-plane-20141020-118i9u.html