German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Ukraine runs the risk of running out of natural gas if it fails to settle a dispute over payments with Russia, Bloomberg reported. The European Union has been providing Ukraine with so-called "reserve flows" since Russia's Gazprom in June halted deliveries to the country.

Friday's temperature in Brussels, where Merkel made the comments at an EU summit, hovered around 60 degrees. But once winter kicks in, the chancellor said, the 28-member bloc may itself need the entirety of Russian gas and will no longer be able to return any supplies to Ukraine. The EU received about 15 percent of its natural gas from Russia, all of which has to travel through Ukrainian pipelines.

Gazprom's cutoff came after Russia's annexation of Crimea and amid fights between the Kiev government and pro-Russian separatist in eastern Ukraine. The state-owned company demands payment of $1.45 billion in debt for past deliveries, according to Russia Today.

The two neighbors have been trying to negotiate a solution at so-called "gas talks" in Brussels but have so far been unable to reach an agreement, Bloomberg added. Given the precarious state of Ukraine's economy and the lengthy process of securing expected assistance through the International Monetary Fund, Merkel pushed for a temporary solution.

"We have to find a way to bridge the gap in the meantime, from about November to February," the chancellor was quoted as saying.

The German leader further pressed the issue with Moscow, according to Russia's state-owned TASS. In a phone conversation with President Vladimir Putin, "Both leaders expressed hope for progress at the gas talks in Brussels," the news agency said, citing the Kremlin press service.

Observers in Germany, meanwhile, focused on how that country's own citizens might be on the hook for the proposed temporary solution.

"Merkel wants EU taxpayers to finance Ukraine's gas debt," Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten titled. The website pointed out, meanwhile, that most of the bloc's leaders rebuffed an effort by Italy to instead loosen the sanctions it has imposed on Russia.