The Russian and Ukrainian governments have confirmed that they will hold talks in Moscow on Saturday.
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Czech Energy Minister Martin Riman will attend, the commission says.
No
gas is flowing via Ukraine to Central and Eastern European countries,
some of which are rationing gas amid cold weather and diminishing
reserves.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Russia
could damage its reputation as a reliable energy supplier if the row
continued.
She is due to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Germany on Friday.
In
a late-night phone call on Thursday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko agreed with Mr Putin that their two governments should meet
at the weekend, her side said.
But, after high-level talks in
both Moscow and Kiev, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he could
not see how the two sides could be reconciled any time soon.
"I cannot imagine what would have to happen within 24 hours, or 48 hours, for the gas transit to resume," he said.
"It
is practically impossible. The conditions laid by one and the other
side are so contrasting that this simply cannot work," he told a news
conference.
EU governments are becoming exasperated at Russia
and Ukraine for failing to resolve their row, despite an apparent
agreement to resume transit supplies of gas, reached on Monday,
correspondents say.
Russia shut off gas supplies to Ukraine on New Year`s Day, amid a contractual dispute over debts and prices.
It
continued pumping gas across Ukraine to European customers, but then
halted those supplies after accusing Kiev of siphoning some off.
The
European Commission has warned Russian and Ukrainian gas companies that
they could be sued for failing to meet their obligations.
Legal action is under way in Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria, says the BBC`s Nick Thorpe in Budapest.
