The room in Berlin's Ritz hotel was pleasantly warm as Russia's prime minister met Friday with European gas company executives intent on resolving the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute. Vladimir Putin emphasised his desire for a solution, although his messages were mixed. "Together, we need to work out how we can support our Ukrainian friends," the Russian premier said during the spontaneously agreed meeting in central Berlin's luxury hotel.
But he also rejected Ukraine's offers to resume gas delivery out of hand, accusing the country of being solely responsible for the transportation problems.
Putin expressed to the assembled executives and journalists his desire to end the crisis, saying the real victims were the people suffering from the shortage of gas. "This is not the right time to ask who is responsible,"he said.
However, he looked to the Europeans for a financial settlement. Putin said the cost of transporting gas through Ukraine lay at 730 million dollars for the first quarter of this year alone.
So-called "technical" gas, which is used to power the pumps that keep the gas flowing westwards, is at the centre of the dispute because Ukraine insists it has a right to remove 21 million cubic metres of gas daily for this purpose. Russia accuses its western neighbour of "stealing"the gas.
The chief executive of Italy's ENI, Paolo Scaroni, agreed to work with Gazprom to find a quick solution. Earlier in the day, Putin paid a visit to International Green Week, the world's largest agriculture fair which opened Friday in Berlin. He toured the Russian pavilion, the largest national exhibition at the fair.
Handshakes, smiling camera poses and musical performances were the order of the day, a world apart from the seemingly endless gas dispute.
At the trade fair, the prime minister was able to savour his country's remotest corners, including a wood carver from the Arctic Circle in the country's far north and traditional singers of the Tver region, situated between Moscow and St Petersburg. The premier also excelled in his translation skills, as he interpreted for German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner and her Russian counterpart Alexei Gordejev when they met without a professional interpreter.
The short detour to International Green Week caused a huge commotion at the fair. Despite being closed off to regular visitors, Russia's exhibition hall was filled with Russian exhibitors hoping to catch a glimpse of their premier.
A spokesman for the Tver region, Andrei Ivanov, was pleased at the visit. "It's a great honour that Prime Minister Putin was here," he said.
Russia's exhibitors saw this as an opportunity to showcase their regions. Elena Markevic, spokesperson for the Moscow region said, "We showed (Putin) how efficient, large and great our region is." The German agricultural minister also thanked Putin for his visit. "The atmosphere was relaxed and merry," Aigner said.
The next stop of Putin's visit was the meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has repeatedly urged both Russia and Ukraine to resolve the gas dispute. Speaking after the meeting, both leaders spoke of their hopes for an imminent settlement. Merkeltold reporters there might be a test phase where gas pumping was resumed under monitoring by European Union inspectors.
"Time is of the essence," she said, adding that a settlement was also in the interests of Russia and its gas monopoly company, Gazprom. The alternative would be a loss of confidence in them, she said.
Following his talks with Merkel, Putin was to travel to the eastern city of Dresden to pick up an award for promoting Russo- German cultural relations.
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