By Gennady Novik
SUDZHA, Russia (Reuters) - Russia started pumping gas meant for Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday for the first time in nearly a week, but the European Union said little or no gas was flowing to countries suffering urgent energy shortages.
Russia accused Ukraine of blocking off gas to Europe, but Kiev blamed lack of pressure in the pipeline system and said it could not ship the gas without cutting off several of its own regions.
The crisis has disrupted supplies to some 18 countries -- some of them totally dependent on Russian gas -- at the height of winter, shutting down dozens of factories in southeast Europe and leaving hundreds of thousands of people without heating.
A deal brokered by the European Union, which gets a quarter of its gas from Russia, had been meant to get supplies moving on Tuesday, with international monitors in place to ensure that Ukraine was not siphoning off any gas, as Moscow has alleged.
Technicians at Russia's Sudzha pumping station, near the border with Ukraine, opened the gas taps at 10 a.m. (7 a.m. British time).
Russia said flows were "partially restarted" but then blocked. "Gas is not flowing. The taps on the Ukrainian side are simply closed," said Sergei Kupriyanov, a spokesman for state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom.
Gazprom said it was declaring force majeure on gas exports to Europe, invoking a contractual clause that releases a supplier from its obligations due to circumstances beyond its control.
Ukraine told the European Union it was encountering "technical difficulties" because the pressure of gas arriving from Russia was too low.
"CONFLICT WILL CONTINUE"
The European Commission said Europe needed the gas urgently and an aide to Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he expressed disappointment in a telephone call with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin over the low volumes pumped by Russia.
The prime ministers of Bulgaria and Slovakia, who are among EU states worst hit by the dispute, were due to fly to Russia for talks, according to Russian news agencies.
Bulgaria's Sergei Stanishev and Slovakia's Robert Fico would also travel to Ukraine on Wednesday to discuss the crisis with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Mikhail Korchenkin, an analyst from the Pennsylvania-based east Europe Gas Analysis think tank, said: "Gas cannot just appear on the other side of the pipeline, which is up to 1,500 km (940 miles) long. Gazprom is asking that the law of physics are defied. I'm afraid the conflict will continue. Low gas prices in Europe simply make Putin very nervous."
An EU official in Brussels said there was only a small stream of gas coming in at Sudzha.
Ukraine had asked for 350 million cubic metres per day but Russia said it had to start slowly, with 1 million cubic metres per hour in Sudzha, he said.
"That was supposed to be increased but the latest news I have is that it is going down again, or going towards zero," the official said, adding that the pipelines proposed by Moscow to deliver the gas were "not an easy route."
Gazprom's Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said Ukraine's actions were being orchestrated by the United States. "It looks like ... they are dancing to the music which is being orchestrated not in Kiev but outside the country," he said.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack dismissed the allegation as "bizarre" and "totally without foundation."
The disruption has dented the reputation of both Moscow and Kiev as energy suppliers and prompted a search for new routes.
Russia cut off gas to Ukraine on January 1 after failing to reach agreement with Kiev on gas fees. A week later it halted all transit flows to Europe via Ukraine, saying Ukraine was stealing gas intended for Europe. Kiev accused Moscow of using energy blackmail.
Analysts say Moscow's standing has suffered in Europe, its most lucrative gas market and biggest trading partner. Western diplomats say Ukraine's reputation has suffered too, and the economic impact could be even worse.
Gazprom is demanding that Kiev hand over $614 million (421 million pounds) in unpaid gas bills and pay $450 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas in 2009 -- similar to rates paid by EU customers but a big rise on last year's price of $179.5.
Ukraine is likely to struggle to absorb those costs as its economy -- based on steel and chemical exports -- has been hit hard by the global slowdown and its hryvnia currency has experienced sharp falls.
(Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova and Christian Lowe in Moscow, Pavel Polityuk in Kiev, David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
