Updated

Russia and Ukraine are holding European Union-brokered talks on their long-running gas dispute Friday as pressure mounts for a solution to head off a winter supply crisis in Ukraine and beyond.

The meeting in Berlin between the Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers comes more than three months after Moscow cut off gas supplies to Kiev.

The dispute is part of a wider conflict over whether Ukraine aligns itself with Russia or the West.

It involves the price of Russian gas supplies and Ukraine's debt over previous deliveries.

Much of the Russian gas supplied to EU countries passes through pipelines that cross Ukraine.