“The debt is here from a private Ukrainian company to the Defense Ministry. That's all what I think,” Lavrov said refusing to elaborate, RIA Novosti reports.
Lavrov earlier described the first criminal case against Tymoshenko as politicized. He said a former premier could not be judged for a gas contract whose legal basis had never been questioned.
The security service said the new case had been opened after the Russian Defense Ministry sent a letter to the Ukrainian cabinet in June demanding that the debt be paid.
Russia had earlier opened a criminal case against Tymoshenko but closed it due to a statute of limitations when she became premier in 2007.
