Russia will in its actions be guided by the Stockholm arbitration tribunal's ruling on the gas transit dispute with Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said at his annual press conference.

But Putin said it should not be forgotten that Kyiv owed Moscow $3 billion on eurobonds.

"The gas war," Putin said, beginning his response to a question put by a Ukrainian journalist. "You mentioned the $3 billion. I draw your attention to the fact that some of our national wealth fund has been invested in Ukrainian securities – $3 billion. There has already been a ruling by a London court which is not being fulfilled," he said.

Commenting on the Stockholm arbitration ruling for Gazprom to pay Ukraine's Naftogaz $2.6 billion, Putin said: "As regards gas relations, this is such a complex, very sensitive topic. We want to solve this problem. As a lawyer I am convinced by my basic schooling that the Stockholm arbitration ruling is political rather than legal in nature. One of the justifications for the Stockholm ruling – it may seem strange to those present but nonetheless interesting - is "the challenging economic situation in Ukraine." What nonsense! But that's what it said. If only they had abstained."

"Well, fair enough. There is a ruling and we'll be guided by it," he said. And we'll be seeking an acceptable decision for all, including Ukraine, preserving, as I've said on numerous occasions, transit via Ukraine, despite the construction of new infrastructure like Nord Stream 1 and 2, TurkStream. It's a question of the volume of that transit and the timeframe in which a contract can be signed," he said.