Ukraine still insists on gas price of $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters - Yatsenyuk

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said Ukraine insists on keeping the price of $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian natural gas, which was valid for the first quarter of 2014, because it is a "market" price and remains profitable for Russian gas giant Gazprom.

"In our opinion, it is a market price. It is the one-and-only acceptable price, which can satisfy Ukraine," Yatsenyuk said in parliament on Tuesday.

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"Under no circumstances will we agree to pay Russia $500 per 1,000 cubic meters. It is not a market price. It is a political price. If Russia views Ukraine as a "cash cow", it is deeply mistaken," the prime minister said.

Yatsenyuk reaffirmed Kyiv's readiness to file a lawsuit with the Stockholm International Arbitration Court, should the ongoing trilateral negotiations involving the European Union fail.

Russia, for its part, insists on raising the price it charges Ukraine for natural gas to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters starting from April 1.

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