Russian natural gas surged across Ukraine to countries across Europe on Tuesday, banishing the specter of immediate and prolonged shortages because of Moscow's price dispute with Kiev.
But relief was tempered by the cold realization that the continent's dependence on &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/89/356/13883_gazprom.html' target=_blank>Russian natural gas means it is vulnerable to future energy crises.
European officials sought to dispel anxieties left after some European countries saw gas supplies from Russia &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/370/16695_Ukraine.html' target=_blank>transiting Ukraine cut by as much as 50 percent _ a result of Moscow's decision to cut all deliveries to Kiev _ before Russia pumped extra gas and deliveries returned to normal.
European Union spokesman Johannes Laitenberger suggested the standoff between Ukraine and Russia was little more than a business disagreement, describing it as "first and foremost a dispute between a gas supplier and (a) transit operator."
"There is no immediate crisis of supply in the European Union," he said in Brussels.
But EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs touched on the Europe-wide insecurity left by a day of energy fears.
"The situation has shown how vulnerable the Union is to shortages of gas supply," he said.
He said a Wednesday meeting of representatives of EU member states and the gas industry would discuss how they would react to the current crisis and deal with future threats to Europe's gas supply.
"We should be always prepared," he said. "We should be able to supply our citizens with energy resources."
Both Russia and Ukraine showed interest Tuesday in resolving the gas cutoff, which led to Monday's Europe-wide shortages, Russian accusations that Ukraine was at fault for stealing Europe-bound gas and Ukrainian denials. OAO Gazprom, Russia's state-run natural gas monopoly, said talks were planned with Ukrainian officials later in the day aimed at resolving the dispute.
Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Serbia _ where officials had contemplated gas rationing after a 50-percent drop in deliveries _ were all reporting normal flows by Tuesday, along with other European countries that had been less affected by the dispute that eastern and central European nations covering much of their needs from Russia.
Moldova's fuel crisis also showed signs of easing after its president said that Turkmenistan had offered to ship his country natural gas to compensate for a Russian cutoff _ again over a price dispute.
Before being disconnected Sunday, the former Soviet republic drew all of its natural gas from Russia.
While expressing the relief common to all European countries affected that the crisis was over _ for now _ Milos Tomic, general manager of Serbia's Srbijagas distributor voiced shared worries about the future, saying: "I cannot guarantee that gas deliveries will be normal in the coming days."
In Italy, the dispute rekindled a debate over the use of nuclear power with Industry Minister Claudio telling the daily Corriere della Sera that without that alternative, "we can't ... be safe from energy emergencies."
And Poland, whose energy dependency on Russia is a legacy of its former status of as a satellite of Moscow, launched an urgent search for new suppliers of natural gas in the wake of the temporary cutbacks.
"I've instructed the economy minister to urgently prepare investment decisions allowing us to diversify gas supplies," Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz told reporters.
Romania was looking into alternative energy sources to reduce its dependency on imported gas.
"With the higher cost of gas and oil nowadays, it may be feasible to return to coal," Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said. Old projects to build two new large hydroelectric plants on the Danube could also be revived, he said.
An array of European countries on Monday had called on Russia and Ukraine to work out the dispute soon. About one-quarter of Europe's gas comes from Russia _ 80 percent of that via Ukraine _ and the standoff raised fears of serious gas shortages as Europe suffers through a particularly cold winter.
Even with full deliveries restored, Europe's gas scare reawakened fears over Russia's reliability and potential for belligerence _ criticism that comes as the country assumes the chairmanship of the Group of Eight, a position it wants to use to boost its international prestige.
"Ukraine is being punished for its decision to become a European, fully democratic country," wrote The Czech Republic's daily "Lidove Noviny.
Criticizing what it said was past European "obedience" to Russia, Italy's "Il Messagero" said, "it would be shortsighted and dangerous if Europe would continue to act this way considering the events of present days."
Before the Wednesday meeting of energy experts from the EU's 25 member nations in Brussels, Laitenberger, the EU spokesman, said the EU's executive office would suggest ways European countries could work more closely together on energy policy before a European Union summit in March.
"This is clearly not a one-off question," he said, reports AP.
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