
Ukraine blocks transit of Russian gas to Europe, prompting price hike
Voice of America
FILE - Vladimir Putin, who then was Russia's prime minister, autographs a natural gas pipeline in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok during the pipeline's launch ceremony, Sept. 8, 2011. A contract allowing Russian gas to transit across Ukraine expired Dec. 31, 2024. FILE - In this photo distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico prior to their talks in Moscow on Dec. 22, 2024. FILE - A view of Western Europe's largest liquefied natural gas plant, Hammerfest LNG, in Hammerfest, Norway, March 14, 2024.
European gas prices reached a 15-month high on Thursday after Ukraine blocked the transit of Russian gas across its territory into the European Union.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, right, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, and Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly attend the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, March 13, 2025. Ministers representing, from left, Japan, Britain, France, Canada, U.S. Germany and Italy post for a photo during the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec, March 13, 2025.

Rohingya refugees gather to collect relief materials from a distribution point in the Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Ukhia in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district on March 6, 2025. FILE - United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks with the media in Brussels, March 21, 2024. FILE - A Rohingya boy carries a relief supply package with the USAID logo on it, at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Feb. 11, 2025.