Russia not to revise gas deal with Ukraine

Moscow believes its gas agreements with Ukraine should be executed unconditionally and can not be revised unilaterally, the Kremlin press service said on Saturday. In a statement posted on its website, the Kremlin mentioned a brief meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych in Dushanbe, saying the two had discussed on Russian gas supplies to Ukraine and its transit via Ukrainian territory. "Russia is ready to defend its interests on the (gas) agreement in any court and will act in strict compliance with the document's provisions," said the statement. "The Russian party believes that the Ukrainian partners must meet their contractual obligations in full, including as regards the prices of supplies," it added. The Kremlin also warned that Ukraine's internal decisions must not affect the fulfillment of international obligations, otherwise it may lead to "serious consequences" to the Ukrainian economy. The Ukrainian government has long urged Russia to review the existing gas pricing formula, but so far the two sides have not reached consensus on the issue. In 2009, Ukraine reduced natural gas supply to European countries by 20.4 percent after a price row between Moscow and Kiev halted Russian gas flows to Europe for about two weeks.