You can be fairly sure that Russian claims that Ukraine is “stealing Europe’s gas” are bollocks, and that this is indeed “the Putin regime’s answer to the Orange Revolution”. This little spat could, however, severely affect large chunks of Europe – not to mention the outcome of the Ukranian parliamentary elections in March.

For background and word from Kiev, you could do far worse than start with this summary at Foreign Notes as well as some interesting speculation (including the general consensus line “I think it’s clear that when it comes to Ukraine the Kremlin has lost its mind.”) Hell- just keep an eye on Foreign Notes for all your Ukraine goodness – lots of good links and analysis, and currently being updated more regularly than the other Ukraine blogs in the “Regional Expertise” section to the right.

Tuesday update: Interesting, detailed post and lots of discussion on European Tribune as it looks like the crisis is passing. There’s also a good short intro at Fistful, and it’s also worth checking out Neeka and LEvko.