Russia Says It Won't Bow Over Sanctions, Denies Navy Craft In Trouble Off Sweden

   (RFE/RL) --- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow will not do the West's bidding in order to have sanctions removed.

   Speaking on October 19 on Russia's NTV channel, Lavrov said, "We are told, 'If you help settle the crisis in Ukraine, we will cancel the sanctions. Let us name a criteria for you -- take one step, see to it that the militia would allow monitors to the border with Russia,' and so on.'"

   He said: "Our answer is very simple -- we will not fulfill or agree to any criteria or conditions."

   Lavrov also accused Western powers of using the Ukraine crisis as a pretext to press Russia "to  alter its approach to key, crucial  issues for us and force us to accept  the approach of the West."

   But he called that "bygone century, bygone epoch, colonial thinking of the past."

   Meanwhile, Russia said that none of its submarines was involved in what Sweden is calling "foreign underwater activity" in waters near Stockholm.

   The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on October 19 that "there have been no irregular situations and, even less so, accidents involving Russian naval vessels."

   The respected Swedish daily "Svenska Dagbladet" has reported that a damaged Russian submarine is at the center of a search by Swedish boats, troops, and helicopters for an unidentified submarine that began on October 17.

   The newspaper says the Swedish military had intercepted a distress signal in Russian that was sent to a naval base at the Baltic seaport in Kaliningrad.

   The Swedish military has refused to comment on the newspaper's reports.

   The search operation comes amid increasing tension with Russia among the Scandinavian and Baltic states over the crisis in Ukraine, where Western states have accused Russia of supplying troops and material to pro-Russian separatists and otherwise fomenting violence.

   Russia has also sought to exert leverage over Ukraine through gas supplies.

   Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said late on October 18 that his country will have natural gas from Russia this winter, suggesting a breakthrough in stubborn talks with senior Russian and Gazprom officials.

   Poroshenko said in an interview on Ukrainian television that Russia and Ukraine must only agree on the price for that gas.

   He said Russia would supply Ukraine with gas through March at a price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters, down from the current prince of $485.

   He also said he expected the deal to be signed when Russian, Ukrainian, and EU officials meet on October 21 in Brussels for their next round of gas talks.

   The Ukrainian leader -- who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin three times in Milan on October 17 -- added that Kiev had proposed to pay $325 per 1,000 cubic meters for gas used by Ukraine during the summer of next year.

   But he said Russia was insisting on the price of $385 per 1,000 cubic meters for all parts of the year.

   The EU-brokered talks with Ukraine and Russia have produced a draft accord under which cash-strapped Kiev would pay Moscow $3.1 billion in unpaid bills for already deliver gas by the end of October.

   When Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in June over unpaid bills, it risked leaving not only Ukraine without heat in the winter, but that Russia could also cut off flows to Europe if Ukraine began siphoning off gas from the pipelines crossing its territory.

   Russia provides about one-third of the EU's natural-gas consumption, half of which transits via Ukraine, and previous disruptions in 2006 and 2009 led to sharp increases in prices.