President to discuss gas problems with Putin

In an interview with reporters in Bila Tserkva, Victor Yushchenko said tonight he was going to telephone Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukrainian-Russian gas relations, the President's press office informs.

The President said he hoped his recent consultations with experts would positively affect several key issues in this field. Ukraine will pay money for gas and will urge Russia to liberalize tariffs for its transit and supplies. He reiterated that these points had been thoroughly discussed at Ukrainian-Russian talks in the past months.

“I think we will soon conclude bilateral consultations on this issue,” he added.