You're reading: Azarov hoping for progress on gas issue

There will be advancement on the gas issue between Ukraine and Russia at the forthcoming talks between the two countries' leaders on July 12, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said.

“I expect that on July 12 we will still move forward in solving the
gas issue. It is difficult to say how far but I have no doubt that we
will move forward,” Azarov said at a meeting with members of the Regions
Party faction in Kyiv on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian-Russian intergovernmental commission chaired by the two countries’ leaders is due to meet in Yalta on July 12.

The problem of payments for the Russian natural gas remains
unresolved, Azarov said. “[The gas price] is incredibly high,” the prime
minister said.

I do not want to talk about prospects but “work has been extremely
intense, primarily at the level of the Ukrainian president,” he said.

The meeting at the level of the Russian and Ukrainian heads of
government, and the material prepared for this meeting “will also allow
to make certain progress,” the Ukrainian prime minister said.