Gas talks to continue only if Kiev pays debt

MOSCOW, June 18 (Itar-Tass) -- Trilateral gas talks between Russia, Ukraine and the E.U. can continue only if Kiev pays its U.S. $4.5 billion debt, regardless of E.U.’s suggestions to carry on, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told PRIME in an interview on Wednesday. “Our position remains the same: talks, consultations can continue only after Ukraine repays its debt,” Novak said. “Are we ready to meet in July? Generally, we are.” On Tuesday, E.U. Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettiger suggested to holding talks in mid-July, Reuters reported. The European Commission hopes the problem will be solved during summer, when storages have enough gas and demand is low. On Monday, after Russian gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine’s energy company Naftogaz Ukrainy failed to reach an agreement on the price for the gas supplies and Ukraine did not repay its debt, Gazprom turned gas off for Ukraine and filed a $4.5 billion suit against Naftogaz to the Stockholm arbitration court. Learn more on itar-tass.com