Russia and Ukraine made "significant progress" in talks on gas supplies at a meeting between Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Viktor Yanukovich late on Saturday, Yanukovich's office said on Sunday. Ukraine says it is paying too much under a current gas supply deal and wants to change the terms. Previous disputes between the two have disrupted gas supplies to Europe.
Russia has said it could only review the deal if Ukraine joined its customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, a move that would rule out a free trade deal between Ukraine and the European Union that Kiev wants to agree this year. Yanukovich visited Russia on Saturday, hoping to reach a compromise with Medvedev and his powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
On Sunday, Yanukovich's office quoted him as saying that "significant progress was made during the talks which gives us hope that concrete results will be achieved soon in the interest of both nations." Yanukovich's office said he and Medvedev agreed to hold a meeting of a bilateral inter-government commission in Ukraine in October. It provided no other details.
Citing Ukraine's energy and coal ministry, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday that Ukraine's Energy Minister Yuri Boyko and Alexei Miller, the head of Russian gas giant Gazprom had separate talks on Sunday.
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