OREANDA-NEWS. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference after talks with Serbian President Alexander Vucic in Sochi that Russia is ready to maintain gas transit through Ukraine, but the conditions proposed by Kiev are economically unacceptable.

“We are currently negotiating about this, this is no secret. Though, the conditions offered to us by Ukrainian transit companies… are not economically acceptable for us so far. But I hope that this is a request position and it will be possible to coordinate the positions somehow,” Putin said (the transcript was published on the Kremlin’s website).

At the same time, Vucic said that Putin and the CEO of Gazprom company, Alexey Miller, had promised that Serbia would receive the necessary amount of gas, regardless of how the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations would end. “Serbian citizens will have enough gas thanks to today’s meeting and what President Putin told us. And I am happy that we regularly pay for this gas. We have decided the issue of gas,” Vucic noted.

Putin stated that at today’s meeting, the topic of increasing gas supplies to Serbia was raised in connection with the growth of its economy. “Without Ukrainian transit, will we be able to provide increase in the near future? This is the matter we are discussing,” Putin explained.

The contract of Russia and Ukraine for the transit and supply of gas will expire on December 31. Gazprom suggested that Naftogaz extend this contract or conclude a new one after the nullification of all legal claims in the Stockholm arbitration. The Ukrainian company called these conditions unacceptable. The next round of gas negotiations was held on November 29. Kiev representatives said that a compromise was reached on some issues.