Putin criticizes Ukrainian government for failure on gas transit deal

The administration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych made a fundamental, strategic mistake this week when opting not to offer the Russian government rent in Ukraine’s natural gas transit system, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a Dec. 20 press conference in Moscow. During recent negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian Presidential Administrations, the Russian government offered to rent Ukraine’s gas transit system with the European leadership and assume responsibility for its functioning and development, Putin said. Under the proposal, the transit system would have remained in the ownership of the Ukrainian government. In the same press conference, Putin said his talks with Yanukovych weren’t about Ukraine joining the Customs Union this week, contradicting news reports that said that was indeed the reason Yanukovych opted out of the scheduled Dec. 19 meeting in Moscow on its eve.