Russia and Ukraine remained deadlocked in their energy war yesterday with European governments becoming increasing angry and exasperated over the dispute.
More than two weeks after cutting off supplies to Ukraine, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested an international takeover of the Ukrainian gas transit network to Europe.
In an interview with German television ahead of a visit to Berlin, Putin recommended setting up “an international consortium that would rent Ukraine’s gas pipelines and maybe even take part in privatizing it if Ukraine wishes.”
He added however Ukraine would probably not be persuaded to sell its transit system, which he described as a Ukrainian “fetish.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s office said a meeting with Russia to try to resolve the crisis had been arranged for tomorrow after she spoke by phone with Putin, although who would participate was unclear.
Putin and Tymoshenko spoke by telephone shortly after midnight yesterday, and agreed to meet face-to-face for talks on energy tomorrow in Moscow.
The telephone discussion was “productive” and “gives hope for the development of a compromise,” the statement from Tymoshenko’s office said.
An effective Kremlin embargo on gas shipments to Ukraine has been in effect for three weeks and on transit shipments to Europe for eight days so far.
Putin reportedly rang Tymoshenko in response to a Wednesday request by the Ukrainian prime minister they speak directly.
The pair are due to meet in Moscow tomorrow to discuss a possible resolution to the energy deadlock between the two countries, and a renewal of natural gas deliveries to Europe, the Tymoshenko statement said.
The lack of a contract between Russia and Ukraine regulating natural gas shipments has been at the root of the present crisis, with both Kiev and the Kremlin manipulating energy deliveries to Europe in an attempt to wring better contract terms out of their opponent.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary