( dpa ) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said he had accepted a Ukrainian proposal for the settling of a debt dispute over Russian gas deliveries just minutes before a deadline to cut off gas.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's long-planned official visit to Moscow on Tuesday turned to emergency talks to avert Russian gas monopoly Gazprom cuts off deliveries to Ukraine over 1.5 billion dollars of debt claimed by the company.
"Gazprom's offer to our Ukrainian partners has been agreed on. We hope that all arrangements will be executed," Putin told a press conference Tuesday after three hours of negotiations with his Ukrainian counterpart.