Gazprom said earlier in the day that it has postponed until Tuesday evening its deadline for Ukraine to pay its $1.5 billion natural gas debt, after which the Russian energy giant is threatening to reduce supplies.
"The main outcome of the talks is that gas deliveries to Ukraine will not be halted on February 12, as Russia earlier said," the Ukrainian Cabinet's website said.
According to the news release, the parties agreed to sign technical acts on gas consumption over previous months and on the repayment of gas debts.
But Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom has denied reaching a compromise with Ukraine.
"This is incorrect as the talks are not finished and no agreement has been reached," spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said, adding that the only agreement reached was to delay the cutoff until late Tuesday.
Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko expects to discuss the gas issue between Kiev and Moscow at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, a presidential spokesman said on Monday.
"The two presidents will certainly discuss the issue in dialogue," Yushchenko was quoted as saying at a meeting on Monday with Tymoshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaker of the Supreme Rada, the country's parliament.
The latest reports said Yushchenko has demanded that the government ensure that consumers pay off their gas debts by early 2008.
