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Sergei Karpukhin / ReutersA worker walks past a pump jack on an oil field owned by Bashneft company near the village of Nikolo-Berezovka, northwest from Ufa, Bashkortostan.

TheEuropean Union will consider "reframing" energy relations with Russia based onmarket conditions when thetime is right andfor now will focus onits strategic gas partnership with Ukraine, adraft document shows.

TheEuropean Commission, theEU executive, has set as apriority creating asingle energy market, based oncross-border connections toimprove security ofsupply andreduce dependence onRussia, which provides roughly one third ofEU energy.

Russia's long-standing energy relations with theEU andUkraine, themain transit route forRussian gas tothe EU, have deteriorated since Russia's seizure ofUkraine's Crimea region last year.

"When theconditions are right, theEU will consider reframing theenergy relationship with Russia based ona level playing field interms ofmarket opening, fair competition, environmental protection andsafety," adraft ofthe Energy Union Package says.

Fornow, it says it will concentrate onupgrading "the strategic partnership onenergy" with Ukraine, improving its gas transit infrastructure andenergy efficiency toreduce Kiev's need forRussian gas.

Inparallel with thefighting ineastern Ukraine, Kiev andMoscow are atodds over unpaid gas bills.

Russia's Gazprom last June halted supplies toUkraine over thegas dispute, only resuming deliveries after theCommission brokered adeal that lasts until theend ofMarch.

So far, theCommission has not been able tostart negotiating anew deal.

Underlining theenergy tensions, Russia onThursday started supplying gas torebel-held eastern Ukraine after Kiev suspended deliveries, citing damage tothe networks.

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European Union To Consider 'Reframing' Energy Ties with Russia

The European Union has decided to keep its sanctions on Zimbabwe in place, despite resuming aid to the country this week. The 28-member EU bloc announced Friday that sanctions including a travel ban and a freeze on the assets of President Robert Mugabe and his wife have been renewed for another year, Reuters reported.

EU governments made clear they were not yet convinced that Mugabes record of human rights abuses and electoral fraud had improved enough to merit a lifting of sanctions, according to a notice in the EUs Official Journal, Reuters said. The bloc has imposed sanctions on the country since 2002, when Mugabes Zanu-PF government was linked to widespread abuses around an election, including intimidation and violence against political opponents as well as a crackdown on freedom of expression. While some of these sanctions, including asset freezes on other prominent Zimbabwean officials, have been eased in recent years to promote democratic reform, an arms embargo has remained in place along with travel bans on Mugabe and his wife, Grace.

The decision to continue sanctions comes just days after the EU offered a 234 million-euro aid package to Zimbabwe, the first time the bloc has offered the African state financial aid since sanctions were imposed. The aid, which is intended to boost agricultural development, health services and institutional building, will be channeled through the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank, the Guardian reported. However, Zimbabwes government could eventually receive direct budgetary assistance if it meets conditions around good governance and the rule of law.

Zimbabwean officials had been pressing for the EU to lift its sanctions on Mugabe, warning that they impeded the development of relations between the government and the EU. "For as long as sanctions remain, dialogue will unnecessarily remain contentious and might retard progress toward normalization of relations," Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa told Deutsche Welle earlier this week. "The European Union is saying to us: 'Ministers and others, you can visit us, but do not bring your father.' That is not how relations should be conducted."

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Zimbabwe Sanctions: European Union Renews Mugabe Travel Ban After Offering Development Aid

THE European Union renewed for another year its sanctions against Zimbabwe, including a travel ban and asset freeze on President Robert Mugabe and his wife, according to a notice on Friday in the EU's Official Journal.

According to the notice deceased Zanu PF politicians Edward Chindori Chininga, Stanley Sakupwanya, and Nathan Shamuyarira were removed from the sanctions list.

"The restrictive measures should be renewed until Feb. 20, 2016," the notice read.

"The application of the travel ban and asset freeze should be maintained for two persons."

Zanu PF spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo condemned the decision.

The sanctions against the First Family are illegal, he told state media Friday.

We have maintained that they should be removed because they arent justified. Zimbabwe isnt excited by such nonsensical statements.

These illegal sanctions have done nothing but to destroy our economy. It doesnt matter what they try to do to us, we will persevere just like we have been doing all these years.

Were a resilient nation. The country will continue with its indigenisation policy and implementation of ZimAsset. If we need assistance, that assistance will come from our friends all over the world.

Since imposing sanctions in 2002 over electoral fraud and human rights abuses, the EU has eased measures to encourage political reform in Zimbabwe, although it has kept its ban on Mugabe and his wife Grace, as well as an arms embargo.

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European Union renews Mugabe, Grace travel bans

BRUSSELS: The European Union renewed for another year its sanctions against Zimbabwe, including a travel ban and asset freeze on President Robert Mugabe and his wife, according to a notice on Friday in the EU's Official Journal.

"The restrictive measures should be renewed until Feb. 20, 2016," the notice read. "The application of the travel ban and asset freeze should be maintained for two persons."

Since imposing sanctions in 2002 over electoral fraud and human rights abuses, the EU has eased measures to encourage political reform in Zimbabwe, although it has kept its ban on Mugabe and his wife Grace, as well as an arms embargo.

This week it gave Zimbabwe 234 million euros (173.62 million pounds) in aid, its first since sanctions were imposed. And earlier this month, EU officials said that the 90-year-old president might be allowed in on an exceptional basis during his year-long chairmanship of the African Union, if travelling on AU business.

The Official Journal, however, made clear EU governments are not yet convinced that Mugabe had changed enough to merit a final lifting of restrictions. Representatives of the 28 member states had "carried out a review" of sanctions "taking into account political developments in Zimbabwe", the notice read.

And they would remain in force.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980 and has frequently clashed with the West. EU states were divided in their response when Mugabe won a fifth term in a 2013 election that was endorsed as free by African observers but denounced as fraudulent by the opposition.

The EU invited Mugabe to attend an EU-Africa summit in Brussels last April, but he stayed away because his wife was not invited. Following Mugabe's protest, South African President Jacob Zuma also decided to stay at home.

(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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EU renews sanctions on Zimbabwe, Mugabe

Christian Keszthelyi

Wednesday, February 18, 2015, 9:50 AM CET

European Unions top energy official Maros Sefcovic said that Hungary should include the European Commission in negotiations regarding Hungarys long-term gas contract with Russia, as the European Union is working on the integration of the members energy market, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

The Wall Street Journal said that Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orbn and Russias President Vladimir Putin could have made agreements that violate the competition rules and energy market regulations of the European Union.

Sefcovic said that in an ideal case, the European Commission should also be involved in the negotiations and maximum transparency should be provided regarding issues on the agenda. The energy official promised that the EU would do everything to ensure that the energy deal between Hungary and Russia conforms with EU rules and regulations.

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EU official questions Hungary-Russia energy deal