MOSCOW, March 10 (RIA Novosti) - The recent...

On March 4, masked security agents raided the headquarters of Naftogaz. Valentyn Zemlyanskiy, spokesman for the Ukrainian state energy company, said the officers demanded to be shown all original documentation relating to the January 19 gas deal between Naftogaz and Russian gas giant Gazprom.

"Clearly, this is discrediting the country, and is making us think about alternative routes for gas deliveries to Europe," Vladimir Putin told a news conference in Moscow after intergovernmental talks with Hungary.

Ukraine's SBU security service, which is overseen by President Viktor Yushchenko, has accused Naftogaz of illegally diverting 6.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas bought from Russia.

The dispute was widely seen as a part of ongoing political wrangling between the president and premier. Following news of the raid, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said the sole aim of the operation was to "paralyze Naftogaz's activities and destroy the gas distribution

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