By Natalia Zinets and Vladimir Soldatkin KIEV/GORKI Russia (Reuters) – Russia cut off gas to Ukraine on Monday in a dispute over unpaid bills that could disrupt supplies to the rest of Europe and set back hopes for peace between the former Soviet neighbors. After the weekend loss of 49 troops when pro-Russian rebels shot down a military transport plane, Ukraine's new president ordered his forces to retake full control of their border with Russia – saying this could then pave the way for negotiations. Calling time on weeks of wrangling in talks over natural gas supplies, Russia said Kiev had missed a Monday morning deadline to repay $1.95 billion owed for previous purchases and announced Ukraine would now only get gas it has paid for in advance. At the same time, Moscow insisted that Ukraine must let Russian gas flow across the country through international pipelines to Russia's clients in the European Union – noting a temptation for Kiev to tap into those supplies in transit.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-cuts-gas-ukraine-flows-eu-threatened-112602415–finance.html

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