Russia, Ukraine prime ministers to discuss gas issues Nov. 19

Gas deliveries to Ukraine for 2010 will be discussed during a Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental meeting on economic cooperation November 19, the country`s prime minister said on Saturday, according to RIA Novosti.

The meeting, which will include Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will be held in Yalta and will focus on price formation for Ukraine.

"We will continue to hold constructive talks with Russia...on how to formulate gas prices for Ukraine," Tymoshenko said during a meeting in Severodonetsk in southeastern Ukraine.

Ukraine transits around 80% of Russia`s Europe-bound gas. Russia, which supplies around one fifth of Europe`s gas, briefly shut down supplies via Ukraine`s pipeline system at the start of the year during a dispute with Kiev over unpaid debt. The conflict was resolved in January, when Putin and Tymoshenko agreed deals on deliveries to and gas transit through Ukraine for 2009.

Besides gas, relations between Russia and Ukraine have been fraught in recent years over a number of issues, including Ukraine`s NATO bid and Russian claims that Kiev supplied weapons to Georgia before the August 2008 war with Georgia.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who in August blamed Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko for worsening relations between Moscow and Kiev, told Germany`s Der Spiegel magazine in an interview in early November that he would like to see a Ukrainian president with a "more pragmatic approach" to ties with Russia.

"I wish our Ukrainian friends a speedy end to instability. Then it will be simpler for everyone - including Russia and Europe - to work with them," he added.

Medvedev has linked Ukrainian problems with payment for Russian gas deliveries to the country`s presidential polls, due to take place in January.