Russia's Gazprom will cut off gas deliveries to Ukraine on January 1 unless a new contract is signed, a company spokesman said on Saturday, making a threat that could affect deliveries to Europe.
   
"We would like to avoid such a scenario, we would like to agree on everything before New Year's, but as you understand, we cannot deliver gas without a contract," spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
   
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are being held up by a large debt, he said, speaking two days after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev demanded Ukraine repay 2.4 billion dollars (1.9 billion euros) of debt to Gazprom.
   
An earlier dispute between Russia and Ukraine over gas prices led to a brief interruption of gas supplies in several European countries in January 2006. Most of the EU's gas imports from Russia are pumped through Ukraine.
   
Kupriyanov said the "full and unconditional liquidation of outstanding debts by Ukraine" was required under an agreement signed last month by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko.
   
"However, this has not happened so far," he added, according to Interfax.
   
Following Medvedev's demand, Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz said it had no debt to Gazprom but owed around 1.26 billion dollars to gas trader RosUkrEnergo, an intermediary for Russia-Ukraine gas exchanges.