Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych says Kyiv is still in talks with Moscow on setting an economically grounded price of natural gas.

"The talks on the so called gas issue, which is important to Ukraine, are still on. We expect to achieve an economically grounded and fair formula for setting the price of gas for our country," Yanukovych said after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.

Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Boiko in turn confirmed that the gas price issue came up during the meeting on Monday. "The sides agreed that they should continue their dialogue on this issue," he said. He did not elaborate, but said an agreement would be reached shortly on the resumption date for gas talks.

He said the two leaders had not discussed Ukraine's reduction in Russian gas imports. "No, this issue was not on the agenda," he added.