Yanukovych, Putin to talk about gas, border, space

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Moscow on Monday, the Kremlin press service reported.

"The talks will focus on the current state of economic ties in priority sectors, including energy, transportation, space and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and prospects of their further development," it said.

Bilateral agreements are to be signed, including agreements on the movement of the Black Sea Fleet troops, on cooperation in dealing with migration issues and on ways to broaden industrial cooperation, the Kremlin said.

Despite certain disagreements on how individual aspects of the "gas theme" should be handled, first of all prices and the amount of gas Ukraine buys, the parties continue moving step-by-step towards negotiating agreements that would raise cooperation in this area to a higher level, the Kremlin press service said.

"Putin and Yanukovych are expected to hold a substantive discussion of ways to attain this goal in the context of the work to draft a new and large-scale treaty on broadening cooperation in the gas sector, and the agreements between Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy on the joint development of the Pallas field in the Black Sea shelf, it said.

The Russian and Ukrainian Presidents will also discuss cooperation in the nuclear energy sector, as well as space projects.

Among other issues entered on the agenda are progress in the talks on the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait settlement, and the and on broader terms of the Black Sea Fleet's presence in Ukraine.

Russian-Ukrainian cooperation in tackling regional problems, including the Transdniestrian settlement, will be addressed, too.