Ukraine, Russia to Resume Gas Talks in April

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said that talks will resume with Russia on a long-running gas dispute next month. The statement follows an official working visit by President Yanukovych to Moscow this past Monday.

President Yanukovych assured reporters assembled after the meeting with President Putin that the gas dispute was still an important issue for Ukraine. A resolution to the dispute is being conducted with the intervention of leading consultancy companies as well as with international funds, he said.

Once work is completed on the matter by the governments and the consultancies, the reporters heard, the two presidents will once again meet.

"A fair gas price for Ukraine is still the priority," President Yanukovych said of the meetings. 

Ukraine and Russia's gas dispute has been ongoing for a number years, with the latest strife occurring as a result of Ukraine's refusal to pay for gas it did not take from Russian supplier Gazprom. Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov said in January last year that Ukraine would not be taking almost half its contracted gas from Gazprom, taking only 27 billion cubic metres instead of the 52 billion cubic metres that Gazprom said Ukraine was contractually required to take.

The disagreement sparked a new wave of tensions between the two countries and their gas companies. So far, diplomatic meetings betwen the two governments have proven fruitless in ending the dispute.