The Presidents of Russia and the Ukraine conducted a telephone conversation late Wednesday night at Ukraine's initiative. Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has pointed out that it was not Moscow who terminated the negotiations, and that Russia was ready to resume them any time, according to the statement of the Kremlin press service as quoted by ITAR-TASS. Medvedev informed Ukraine's President that Gazprom and Naftogaz had to sign a new contract in order for Russia to restore its gas supplies. The new contract would provide for the sale of Russian natural gas to the Ukraine at European market prices, and without discounts or preferential treatment.
The CEO of the Russian energy giant Gazprom Alexei Miller and his counterpart from Ukraine's state-owned company Naftogaz Oleg Dubin restarted the bilateral negotiations on the gas prices dispute in Moscow overnight. The news was announced by the Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov as quoted by ITAR-TASS.