Novo-Ogaryovo - The gas conditions Russia proposed to Ukraine are same as they were under the Viktor Yanukovych government and the Russian government should develop measures, which will freeze the proposed discount for some time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“I would ask the government and prime minister to think about how these conditions could be stipulated at the government level or upon an agreement with the Ukrainian government and make them absolutely reliable and unchanging for some time,” Putin said on June 11 at a meeting with government members.
The conditions proposed by Russia’s Gazprom to Kyiv are “absolutely the same conditions, which the government of Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych had,” Putin said.
He also said that Russia’s proposal on a gas discount for Ukraine is more than a partnership one but if it is rejected, relations between Moscow and Kyiv will go a different route.
“We think that our proposals are more than partnership ones and are aimed at supporting the Ukrainian economy in this difficult time. But if our proposals are rejected, this means we will switch to an absolutely different stage and this is not our choice. We do not want this,” Putin said on June 11 at a meeting with government members.
“If so, we will live in a different dimension. Dmitry Anatolyevich [Medvedev], I would ask you to keep this in mind and to build further work the way we have agreed,” Putin said.
Russian President said he believes that Kyiv is deliberately taking the situation into a deadlock by demanding more gas discounts.
“Judging by the information we are now getting from the parties, it’s not even about the mechanisms, it’s about the fact that our Ukrainian partners seem to find that these discounts are not enough and they want more. However, it’s unclear on what grounds,” Putin said.
“If it’s so, they are apparently deliberately taking the situation into a deadlock.”
