REUTERS
The Ukrainian leader has confirmed his country's readiness to have Russia cover Gazprom's US$3 billion debt before Naftogaz with gas supplies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris said Ukraine has a chance of signing a new gas transit agreement with Russia on better terms.
"I can't say anything yet, because there is no agreement, but I'm sure that we have more chances of signing it on better terms than our representatives have discussed before when there were a few very difficult meetings that basically yielded no answers," Zelensky told journalists in Paris.
Zelensky said he did not intend to discuss any details of the negotiations, but "it's not about a 12-month contract as we have removed the issue from the table".
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"I insisted on the most ambitious conditions favorable to Ukraine and Europe, which is 10 years," the president said.
"It is very difficult when one party insists on one year, while we insist on 10. I think we will find something in the middle. It seems we will," he added.
The Ukrainian leader has confirmed his country's readiness to have Russia cover Gazprom's US$3 billion debt before Naftogaz with gas supplies.
The debt arose in line with the award handed down by the Stockholm Arbitration, which considered the gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia.
UNIAN memo. The existing transit contract between Ukraine and Russia's Gazprom was signed in 2009 for 10 years. Once it expires (from 2020), the Russian monopoly said it would minimize gas transit shipments through the Ukrainian territory.