Russia ‘Gas War’ Cables
WikiLeaks has released six new classified US State Department cables that were written during the Russia gas crisis of early 2009, when Russia shut off gas supplies to Ukraine and Europe. That crisis ended quickly when Former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin reached agreement in Moscow to resolve their dispute.
The State Department cables provide insight into the US interest in the Russia – Ukraine dispute, top-level government corruption in the transit of Russian natural gas via Ukraine to Europe, Ukraine's plans to join NATO, and the consequences of Russia's military invasion of Georgia in August 2008. The Ukrainia Presidential Administration deputy has said that Ukraine has nothing to fear from the contents of the leaked correspondence, as what is said in the conversations is no different from official public policy. As she puts it, "We do not have double standards."