You're reading: Azarov: Ukraine set to conduct regular negotiating process on changing gas contracts with Russia

Ukraine is to conduct a regular negotiating process on changing its gas supply contracts with Russia, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said.

"We are committed to conducting a regular negotiating process with the Russian Federation," he told reporters in Kharkiv on Tuesday.

"There are various hypothetical possibilities, but I’m still a supporter of the regular negotiating process on the terms of equal rights and respect, and I want our partners to take into account our arguments, as they are quite serious," Azarov said, when asked on which terms Ukraine might appeal to court to break its gas contracts with Russia.

Azarov said that any conflict in Ukrainian-Russian relations could have a negative effect on their development, so, in his opinion, "it is necessary to reduce the conflict zone."

Earlier, Ukrainian press reports quoted Azarov as saying that the Russian authorities’ position on the gas issues forces Ukraine to think about seeking a court ruling to terminate their gas supply contract. He said that the Ukrainian government had already consulted with national and international experts over the prospects for litigation with Moscow and was ready to institute proceedings.

The Russian prime minister’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that Kyiv had not officially informed Moscow of its intention to start court actions in order to break its existing gas contracts with Russia.

"Russia works on the basis that there are valid agreements between the relevant organizations of Russia and Ukraine and that Russia is honoring its commitments under those agreements in full," he said.