Vladimir Putin warned that Russia was poised to halt gas supplies to Ukraine – placing European customers in jeopardy – unless immediate action was taken to resolve Kiev’s unpaid bills. In a letter to European leaders , the Russian president said state-controlled had a contractual right to force Ukraine to pay in advance for gas supplies, and would “completely or partially cease gas deliveries” if further payment violations occurred. The letter is the first time Moscow has so clearly threatened to cut gas supplies to Ukraine , a key transit route for 15 per cent of European gas. Kiev on Friday announced it had signed a contract with Westinghouse Electric Company, based in the US, to extend the supply of nuclear fuel to Ukraine’s 15 atomic power plants until 2020, thereby reducing the country’s dependence on Russian sources. It came as Kiev was still locked in a stand-off […]