Europe felt the chilling effects of Russia’s politically charged gas dispute with Ukraine as midwinter deliveries to major European nations fell markedly, prompting calls for a swift end to the row. With key importers such as Germany and France reporting a drop in supplies, Russian energy giant Gazprom, which had cut deliveries to Ukraine in the dispute over pricing, promised to increase exports westward to make up the gap. “We have taken all necessary measures to supply Europe with gas according to contracts,” Gazprom’s deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. “By tomorrow evening full supply to Europe in accordance with these contracts will be restored,” he added. Gazprom said it would raise supplies in its export pipeline by 95 million cubic metres (3.3 billion cubic feet) a day in order to make up for Ukraine “stealing” the natural gas bound for European countries further downstream. Late Monday the Hungarian economy ministry said that gas pressure returned to normal levels on pipelines running from Ukraine to Hungary, the MTI national news agency reported. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko met Monday with ambassadors of the European Union, Japan and the United […]