EU Leaders Confront Putin over Gas Threats ... Warn him that Sanctions Won't Stop until he Stops Meddling in Ukraine Completely

Vladimir Putin meets his Ukrainian counterpart and EU leaders here on Friday fresh from warning he could pull the plug on crucial Russian gas supplies to Western Europe this winter. Related Stories

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he hoped the breakfast meeting with the Russian leader would help shore up a patchy ceasefire between his government forces and pro-Moscow rebels in the east of Ukraine.

"Peace and stability in Ukraine, it is the only thing we expect," Poroshenko told reporters late Thursday after talks with Angela Merkel.

The German Chancellor went to have a late night meeting with Putin, who on Thursday upped the stakes in his confrontation with the West by warning that the flow of Russian gas to EU countries could face "major transit difficulties" this winter.

The diplomatic shuttling over Ukraine is taking place on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe (ASEM) summit that has been completely overshadowed by the crisis, which has deepened in recent days.

NATO said it had seen no sign of any major Russian pullback from the Ukrainian border despite Putin saying earlier this week nearly 18,000 troops had been withdrawn from the frontier.

US and European Union leaders had welcomed that announcement as a positive gesture ahead of the Poroshenko talks but also reminded Putin that sanctions would remain in place until he stopped meddling in Ukraine completely.

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