Supplies of natural gas to Europe could be threatened by a stand-off between Russia and Ukraine over the use of Ukraine's gas pipelines, the Russian government has warned.

Viktor Khristenko, Russia's deputy prime minister for energy and industry, said on Tuesday that Russia was ready to take "resolute measures" to convince Ukraine to renegotiate a contract according to which Russia supplies Ukraine with gas in return for use of Ukraine's transit pipelines. These carry about 20 per cent of the European Union's gas supplies and 80 per cent of Russia's gas exports.