MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday told gas monopoly Gazprom to supply Ukraine with gas at 2005 prices for the first three months of next year if Kiev signed a new contract for market prices from April.
Russia had threatened to cut off supplies of gas to Ukraine from January 1 after a bitter price dispute, which could threaten fuel supplies to Europe.
"Above all Ukraine is a brother nation and we must think about the whole relationship between Russia and Ukraine," Putin told a meeting of the Security Council to which the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, was invited.
"That is why I am charging the government and Gazprom with supplying Ukraine with gas for the first quarter of 2006 at 2005 terms and prices on the condition that our Ukrainian partners sign a contract before the end of the day Gazprom's proposals about a transition to market prices from the second quarter."
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