Ukrainian Prime Minister Calls Russia’s Gas Hike ‘Absolutely Unacceptable’

Russia raises gas prices for Ukraine by 80 percent (Reuters)

Russia raised the gas price for Ukraine on Thursday for the second time this week, almost doubling it in three days and piling pressure on a neighbour on the brink of bankruptcy in the crisis over Crimea.

The increase, announced in Moscow by Russian natural gasproducer Gazprom, means Ukraine will pay 80 percent more for its gas than before the initial increase on Monday.

Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said the latest move, two weeks after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea region, was unacceptable and warned that he expected Russia to increase pressure on Kiev by limiting supply to his country.