At least 11 European states have now reported complete halts of Russian gas supplies amid freezing temperatures of almost minus 25 degrees Celsius.

Among the worst hit is Bulgaria, which has already asked the public to cut back on gas usage and ordered heating in all public transport in Sofia to be turned off.

Romania has declared a state of emergency.

The Czech EU presidency called for an "urgent solution" to the gas row while the European Commission proposed sending observers to Ukraine to measure the flow of natural gas arriving from Russia.

In Prague, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country holds the EU's presidency, warned that the EU would toughen its response to the gas crisis if supplies were not restored by Thursday.

"If the supply is not restored by tomorrow we will see a stronger intervention from the (EU) presidency and the EU as such," he told journalists.

He did not say what form the tougher action would take.

Ukraine accused Russia of cutting off the gas to Europe while Russian energy giant Gazprom blamed Kiev for shutting the last remaining pipeline.

But neither disputed that all supplies of Russian gas across Ukraine had been halted.

"Russia stopped all transit through Ukraine" at 7:44 am (4:44pm AEDT), the spokesman for Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz, Valentin Zemlyansky said.

"Russia has left Europe without gas."

But Gazprom vice-president Alexander Medvedev accused Ukraine of cutting all gas deliveries to Europe, warning of "very serious technical problems" if pipelines stay closed.

"Last night Ukraine shut down all gas pipelines to Europe," Mr Medvedev told reporters in Berlin.

"This morning no pipeline is bringing gas through Ukraine to Europe."

He warned there would be "very serious technical problems with this very cold weather if the pipelines stay closed for a long time."

Read the rest of the article

From ABC News
Published January 7, 2009
Photo: ABC News