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Putin warns Europe about Ukraine gas debt


A masked pro-Russian activist poses for a photo in front of barricades at the Ukrainian regional office of the Security Service in Luhansk, 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of the Russian border, in Ukraine, Wednesday, April 9, 2014. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the standoff in Luhansk and the two neighboring Russian-leaning regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv must be resolved within two days.(AP Photo/Igor Golovniov) (The Associated Press)


Putin's letter to 18 leaders, released Thursday by the Kremlin, is part of Russia's efforts to retain control over its struggling neighbor, which is teetering on the verge of financial ruin and is facing a pro-Russian separatist mutiny in the east.

A large Russian military buildup alongside the Ukrainian border has also raised fears that the Kremlin could use the tensions in eastern Ukraine as a pretext to invade, following Moscow's annexation of Crimea last month.








He said Russia may decide to help its struggling neighbor "not in a unilateral way, but on equal conditions with our European partners."

"It is also essential to take into account the actual investments, contributions and expenditures that Russia has shouldered by itself alone for such a long time in supporting Ukraine," he wrote in the letter. "Only such an approach would be fair and balanced and only such an approach can lead to success. "

Putin has been tightening the economic screws on the cash-strapped Kiev government since it came to power in February, after Ukraine's Russia-leaning president fled the country after months of protest.

