Russian gas firm Gazprom has confirmed that it has again halted gas supplies to Ukraine after a breakdown on pricing talks. It comes a day after Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz announced it was suspending gas purchases from Russia. That announcement came after EU-brokered talks aimed at keeping supplies running for three to six months broke down without agreement. Gazprom said it halted the supply because Ukraine did not make an ‘advance payment’ for July's delivery. It is the second time in a year that Russian fuel supplies have stopped running to Ukraine. For the past year, the European Union, which mediated at the price negotiations in Vienna, has forged a series of temporary agreements that need to be renewed every three months. Ukraine consumes about 50bn cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year, producing about 20bcm but importing the rest. On average, Kiev experiences four months a year when the average temperature is below 0C.