Brussels  - Russian gas monopolist Gazprom refused on Thursday to renew gas supplies to Europe in return for a mission of European Union experts intended to monitor gas flows from the country through Ukraine, EU officials said.

"Gazprom said no to the mission. We are disappointed, because we believe the Russian side has no reason to refuse and not to allow the resumption of supplies through Ukraine to the EU," Czech energy minister Martin Riman, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, told reporters in Brussels.

Prague  - The European Union Thursday repeated its call for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after a UN driver bringing aid to Gaza was killed in Israeli fire.

"This is another gruesome incident after a UN-administered school was hit," Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country chairs the EU until June 30, said in a statement.

"We are repeating our call: it is impossible to delay a ceasefire," he said.

Brussels/Prague - Ukraine and Russia remained at loggerheads Thursday over the deployment of international experts to monitor gas flows through Ukraine, European Union officials said.

While both sides have agreed that international monitors could play a role in solving the standoff which has crippled gas supplies to Europe, officials said that no final agreement on a mission had been reached during talks in Brussels.

Prague - The European Union sees a "reasonable" chance for Russian natural gas to soon resume flowing via Ukraine to the 27- member bloc, a Czech official said Thursday.

"I think we can have some reasonable hope in a quick resolution for what is the most urgent need and that is to resume the gas flows," said Czech Vice-Premier for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra before a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The Czech Republic presides over the EU until June 30.

Washington  - Russia's decision to cut off gas supplies to Europe because of a contract dispute with Ukraine is "unacceptable," the US State Department said Wednesday.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin green-lighted a full stop of natural gas shipments to Europe through Ukraine, causing shortages on the continent at a time when heating demands increase to counter the chilly winter season.

"Cutting off these supplies during winter to vulnerable populations is just something that is unacceptable to us," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said.

Prague - Greenpeace activists Wednesday briefly flew an EU flag at the Czech president's official Prague Castle residence, where current occupant President Vaclav Klaus has been refusing to do so.

An activist partially climbed a flagpole and unfurled the flag for about 10 minutes shortly before Klaus, an outspoken EU critic, hosted the bloc's executive, the European Commission.

The European Union on Wednesday warned Russia and Ukraine that they face long-term consequences unless they immediately resolve a dispute that has cut gas supplies to Europe and left some countries struggling to heat up homes over the winter.

"If the transit (of Russian gas through Ukraine) does not go as normal, we will have a real problem", and the EU will have to conclude that "we no longer consider the supply of gas from Russia through Ukraine as credible," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Brussels - The European Union has carried out raids on companies which make the microchips for "smart" cards such as mobile-phone SIM cards, suspecting that they are operating an illegal cartel, officials in Brussels confirmed Wednesday.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, launched the raids on "several smart-card chip producers in several member states" on October 21, a statement released in Brussels said.

Following standard commission practice, the statement did not identify the companies in question, stressing instead that the launch of raids did not constitute proof of illegal behaviour.

Prague - The European Union sees a ceasefire in the Middle East on the horizon, an EU official said after the bloc's unsuccessful mission returned late Tuesday to Prague.

"We are suspecting a dawn, but it is not here yet," said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country chairs the EU until June 30.

The EU mission achieved little. Israel rejected the EU's call for an immediate ceasefire or at least a lull in fighting that would ease distribution of humanitarian aid in the embattled Gaza Strip.

Brussels - The current row over gas supplies between Russia and Ukraine risks "discrediting" both countries as reliable energy partners, European Union diplomats meeting in Brussels said Monday.

At the emergency meeting of EU national representatives, "more and more countries" said that "Russia and Ukraine are discrediting themselves as reliable energy sources," an EU diplomat close to the talks told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Moscow  - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday gave the go-ahead to further cut gas to Ukraine by 65.3 million cubic metres per day - the amount Moscow says Kiev is stealing from European clients further downstream.

Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller proposed the measure while briefing Putin on the standoff since the company shut off supplies to Ukraine on January 1 over non-payments and a pricing dispute.

"Good, I agree. Lets begin the cuts from today," Putin was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying at his residence outside Moscow.

Brussels - The European Union on Monday sent a fact-finding mission to Kiev in a bid to clarify the situation surrounding Russia's shut-off of gas supplies to Ukraine, EU officials confirmed.

The delegation of top officials from the Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, and the European Commission, the EU executive, is set to hold talks with Ukrainian political leaders and representatives of the gas industry, a presidency spokesman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Prague/Brussels - Israel's land attack on the Gaza Strip was expected, but cannot justify the suffering inflicted on the civilian population, the European Union's presidency said in a statement Sunday.

"Launching land operations by the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip is not surprising, there were indications that Israel had been considering this step. But even the indisputable right of the state to defend itself does not allow actions which largely affect civilians," the Czech government said.

The Czech Republic currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, having taken over the role from France on Thursday.

Brussels  - The European Union's executive on Sunday pledged 3 million euros (4.2 million dollars) in emergency aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip affected by Israel's week-long bombardment, even as Israeli tanks pushed into the territory.

The European Commission "will provide an extra 3 million euros' relief assistance in the Gaza Strip ... The aid will be deployed as rapidly as possible to meet the basic needs of people affected by the Israeli airstrikes and by continuing access restrictions," a statement released in Brussels said.

The EU is already the largest aid donor to the Palestinian Territories, providing over 73 million euros in humanitarian assistance in 2008, according to official figures.

Brussels  - European Union representatives are to hold an emergency meeting on the Russian-Ukrainian gas row on Monday and could send an investigating team to the two countries within days, officials in Brussels confirmed Saturday.

The permanent ambassadors of the EU's 27 member states - their highest representatives in Brussels - are to hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday to discuss Russia's shut-off of gas to Ukraine, EU officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Prague  - The European Union Saturday threatened to bypass Russia and Ukraine for the bloc's gas needs if irregularities in Russian gas supplies via Ukraine persist in the future, Czech officials said.

Czech Vice-Premier for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra said the EU was ready to speed up work on Nord Stream and South Stream pipelines that would bring Russian gas to Europe without passing through Ukraine.

Moscow/Kiev/Prague  - Russian natural gas deliveries fell in downstream markets on Saturday, drawing a sharp European Union demand that the Kremlin and Ukraine end a row over energy.

The volumes of Russian natural gas pumped via Ukrainian pipelines to Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia were all were reportedly down, with Romania registering a 33 per cent cut in deliveries.

Budapest/Brussels  - The European Union reported the first impacts of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian gas row on Friday evening as three member states in Central and Eastern Europe reported falling gas pressure in their pipelines.

Pipeline pressure is down in the main pipes leading from Ukraine into EU members Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the Czech Republic's energy envoy, Vaclav Bartuska, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The Czech Republic currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"It is so far only a decrease in pressure. The volumes (being delivered) remain the same ... The Ukrainian side told us that volumes will be down tomorrow (Saturday)," Bartuska said.

Budapest/Brussels - The European Union reported the first impacts of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian gas row on Friday evening as three member states in Central and Eastern Europe reported falling gas pressure in their pipelines.

Pipeline pressure is down in the main pipes leading from Ukraine into EU members Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the Czech Republic's energy envoy, Vaclav Bartuska, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The Czech Republic currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"It is so far only a decrease in pressure. The volumes (being delivered) remain the same ... The Ukrainian side told us that volumes will be down tomorrow (Saturday)," Bartuska said.

Prague - Pressure began to drop Friday in pipelines that supply Russian natural gas to the European Union at the bloc's border with Ukraine, a result of Russia's cut in gas delivery to Ukraine that began Thursday, a Czech energy official said.

"It is so far only a decrease in pressure. The volumes remain the same," Czech Republic's energy envoy Vaclav Bartuska told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. He said that the pipeline pressure was down on Ukraine's border with Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.