Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will meet next week to discuss bilateral cooperation, particularly in the gas sector.
"Just next week we plan an unscheduled meeting... with President Yanukovych on the territory of Ukraine," Medvedev said.
Respected Russian daily Kommersant said, quoting a source close to the visit preparations, that the date of Medvedev's trip had been brought forward as Ukraine needs to draw a budget which depends on the prices for the Russian gas.
Medvedev told journalists in Brazil after the BRIC summit that Ukraine considered gas prices too high for the current situation in the country, and that Russia was willing to compromise.
"This is not a closed topic, I have told Ukrainian president from the very beginning that we are ready to do it," Medvedev said.
Yanukovych, who was inaugurated in February, vowed during his campaign to improve relations with Russia and renegotiate the January 2009 deal on gas supplies, which increased the price Ukraine paid for Russian gas, straining the country's troubled finances.
Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Klyuyev said on Thursday the Ukrainian economy was able to cope with high gas prices last year due to a 20% discount offered by Russia and large gas reserves in its underground storage facilities. The discount expired at the end of 2009 and the deputy prime minister said the current gas prices were ruinous for the national economy.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov earlier this month told a Cabinet meeting he was confident a deal with Russia on lower prices would be reached soon.
In March, Azarov met in Moscow with Miller, who said that gas prices would depend on volumes purchased from Gazprom.
The Russian president also said that the full range of bilateral issues would be discussed during his visit.
"I hope we will continue to discuss all these questions, including ensuring security, developing trade-economic relations, humanitarian issues," Medvedev said.
Kommersant reported that Kiev had promised Moscow to sign a deal on nuclear fuel purchasing lasting a year and five years.
"It was also proposed to build two units of the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant (for the Russian loans - Kommersant), so in future Rosatom [the Russian state nuclear corporation] could become the owner on an equal footing," the paper quoted a source in the Ukrainian government as saying.
BRASILIA, April 16 (RIA Novosti)
