Gazprom says Ukraine creating new gas crisis

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom accused Ukraine of creating a fresh crisis over gas transit to Europe on Monday.

Gazprom said Ukraine was creating new problems by demanding Russia pay for "technical gas" -- the huge volumes of the fuel required to restore pressure in the pipeline system before supplies can resume.

"By making such statements the Ukrainian side is once again creating a crisis situation with the transit of Russian gas to European consumers," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in a statement.