Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin believes that the existing discount on its gas is sufficient for Ukraine.
"We are selling gas to Ukraine at a European price formula. And now we have even made a discount of $100 from the European formula. Well, what else can we do? It is enough as it is," the prime minister said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily, published on Tuesday.
He stressed that this is a compensation for Russian naval base’s presence in Ukraine. However, the resulting loss of a few billion a year "is too high a price" for Russia, the premier said.
He also explained, what prompted Russia to make such steps.
"In the first place are strategic considerations. Russia has been traditionally represented in Crimea and Sevastopol. We believe that the Russian Federation will be interested in this presence for a long time," the premier said.
In the second place, this strengthens the trust between the two states, Putin said. Referring to the data from the official census, the Russian premier said that over 17 million of residents of Ukraine consider themselves Russians. "And almost everyone, I believe, speaks Russian," he said.
"Therefore, it is very important to maintain the level of trust in the interstate relations, including its military component," Putin said.
"The third factor is to some extent the support of Ukraine. Because these three to four billion a year which Russian budget is not receiving from Ukraine – this is our contribution to the support of the economy of a friendly state. We believe that this is an investment into the future. The future of the Russian-Ukrainian relations," Putin said. The full Russian-language interview published by Komsomolskaya Pravda is available here.
