Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) said Tuesday that it is ready
to resume talks with Ukraine over natural gas deliveries both to its neighbour and
through the former Soviet republic en route to European nations.
"We're prepared to get back to negotiations at any moment," Sergei
Kupriyanov, spokesman for government-controlled Gazprom said in a televised
statement.
Earlier Tuesday, the chief executive of Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz, Oleg Dubina, indicated
that he would travel to Moscow to discuss a solution to the ongoing standoff between
Gazprom and Ukraine Jan. 8.
The two parties failed to sign a new gas supply contract for 2009 on Dec. 31,
prompting Gazprom to switch off the taps to Ukraine the following morning. Since then, shipments of
Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine have been disrupted, something Gazprom has attempted
to address by raising transit volumes across other routes.