国际英语新闻：Belarus to stop supply to Europe in "gas war" with Gazprom

In quick response to Lukashenko's order, Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova said Tuesday that Medvedev "has given all the necessary instructions" to Gazprom and others in response to the Belarusian blocking of the gas, in a telephone conversation with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.

Despite Minsk's urging that the debt be offset, Russia insisted on instant payment of the debt.

Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told a press conference in Moscow the only way to solve the ongoing gas debt dispute between Russia and Belarus would be Minsk paying off the debt as soon as possible.

Kupriyanov said it was unrealistic for Minsk to ask for debt to be offset against transit fees, since the two were totally different issues.

Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev, meanwhile, said the company was ready to jointly monitor transit across Belarus with European observers, "to assess who is doing what and who is violating what."

"We will do everything we can to ensure that our European consumers are not affected," he said, adding that Gazprom would continue to cut gas supplies if Minsk failed to take any measures to solve the debt issue.

Kupriyanov said Gazprom was studying ways to deliver gas supplies bypassing Minsk, in order to completely satisfy consumer demands from Europe and Russia's western enclave of Kaliningrad and negating the threats to block supply.

"We have already received confirmation for Ukraine's (gas transport) system readiness from Kiev. We plan to use gas from underground storage facilities and possibly spot markets. Kaliningrad customers will be provided with gas via Lithuania. All the customers will receive their full gas volume," said the spokesman on a Russian TV channel.