Russia and Ukraine are in a heated confrontation and a majority of Europe could go cold if it’s not resolved quickly.

Hello I’m Charlotte Bellis and you’re watching Newsy.com.

Russia imposed a gas embargo on Ukraine January 1st after talks fell through about the pricing of natural gas. The problem is that Ukraine transports a lot of that gas to Europe, now the EU faces gas shortages.

We’re following coverage of this developing story from CNBC, CNN, the Kyiv Post, France 24 and Russia Today.

CNBC highlights that when supplies go down, prices go up.

“Russia’s blaming the Ukraine, the Ukraine’s blaming Russia, regardless of who’s to blame, the result is less gas flowing to Europe, less natural gas supplies. And that is impacting the entire energy complex not only here at the NYMEX but in Europe as well.” (CNBC)

CNBC Worldwide Exchange reports this is more than a price dispute, Russia says Ukraine stole from them.

“Gasprom earlier demanded Ukraine return gas that it claims its neighbors stole from its transit pipes, threatening to reduce supplies to Europe by the same amount that it claims the Ukrainian pipeline operator used.” (CNBC)

CNN adds to the reasons behind the confrontation, reporting Russia also claims Ukraine hasn’t paid its bills.

“Some people in Ukraine could be in for some very frigid days and nights. Russian energy giant Gasprom has cut off supplies of natural gas to Ukraine saying the Ukrainians owe some $2 billion dollars for past deliveries. Ukraine says it has paid the debt in full and the Ukrainian state run energy company says it’s now tapping into underground storage sites for extra gas.” (CNN)

Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post compares the gas prices Ukraine and its neighbor Belarus must pay to Russia, finding Ukraine pays on average 44% more than Belarus.

The Kyiv Post says the difference is “…prompting critics to complain that the Kremlin has one price for its loyal political allies -- such as Lukashenko -- and another, much higher price for Western-leaning Ukraine.” (The Kyiv Post)

France 24 looks at the big picture and points out the Russian energy dependency among European countries.

“80 percent of the continent’s Russian gas--a quarter of its total supply--passes through Ukraine. In 2006, a similar dispute led to drastic falls in gas supplies. Now with some of the Union members severely affected and in a middle of a cold snap, European nations are already checking the size of their emergency stocks.” (France 24)

European countries can take comfort in the possibility this won’t happen in coming years. Russia says they’re fed up with the border disputes and are taking action.

“Moscow now says it can longer depend on the Ukraine as a transit route to the EU and is looking for other options. The alternatives are two new pipelines to bypass Ukraine. The south stream would pass under the Black Sea and the north steam would run under the Baltic Sea.” (Russia Today)

So who’s at fault? Did Ukraine steal gas from Russia? How should the Europe react to the disputes of these two countries? Please share your thoughts and visits links to our sources.