Russia and Ukraine gas agreement "close at hand"

ROME

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have reached a "partial agreement" on payment for gas supplies for Ukraine in the winter, on Friday. 

Putin said he and Poroshenko brokered an accord "for the partial resumption of gas deliveries" at least through the winter. Putin made his remarks after meeting with Poroshenko for less than an hour on the fringes of an Asian-Europe business summit in Milan attended by European heads of government and top European Union officials.

Poroshenko, on the other hand, said only that "progress had been made; but we reached no concrete result on gas."  However, he said there was confidence about "the possibility of finding a solution before the meeting in Brussels with European Commission representatives.'' That meeting will take place next week.

The bone of contention is how Ukraine is to pay for gas supplied by Russia. The Russian president told reporters that "Europe should help Ukraine pay for its gas deliveries from Russia". The price of gas and payment schedule have been key stumbling blocks in the dispute.    

French President Francoise Hollande, also at the meeting, was upbeat, saying that he believed "an agreement on gas is close at hand."

Discussing the conflict in Ukraine, Putin said at the press conference that "an accord was reached between Russia, Italy, France and Germany for the use of drones" on the Ukrainian frontier.

Moscow "wants to collaborate" with EU countries on monitoring the region with drones, the Kremlin leader said.

Poroshenko said earlier that negotiations remained at the same point as already agreed in Minsk between Sept. 5 and 19.

"The principal problem is implementation" of those accords; "we will see what happens next week."

"In the peace process we confirm that the Minsk protocol of Sept 5. and the memorandum of Sept. 19 are the key documents," Poroshenko added. "The central element of this is the cease-fire".

While a cease-fire was agreed to in an accord signed at Minsk on Sept. 5, fighting has continued in the east of the country.

www.aa.com.tr/en