"We talked about it, formally everything is correct, but in essence, it's humiliation," Putin said following a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's energy regulator announced a six-fold increase in natural gas prices for the country's population starting on April 1, as part of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce energy subsidies. Between October 1 and April the price of natural gas used for heating homes will only be increased three-fold.
In addition, Ukraine's national bank announced on Tuesday that it will reduce the proportion of Ukrainian government bonds in its portfolio, the goal of which is to minimize its support of Ukraine's gas monopolist, Naftohaz.
