Russia is ready to work under the new EU legislation regarding the gas market and is ready to reserve the capacity of the Ukrainian gas transportation system for gas transportation, but offers to extend the contract with Ukraine for a short period if new requirements are not implemented on time, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters following the tripartite consultations on gas between the Russian Federation, the EU and Ukraine on Thursday.

Axar.az reports citing TASS.

"Our position is that if European legislation, indeed, is implemented in Ukrainian in January 2020, then we are ready to work in accordance with European legislation. This means we are ready to reserve capacities starting on January 1, 2020," he said.

He also added that during the meeting, the Russian side pointed to the risks that it sees "in terms of the adoption of relevant laws." "We suggested to our colleagues, if this is not done [until January 2020], we will be able to extend the existing contract or additional agreement to partners until Ukraine's entire regulatory framework and legislation is ready," he concluded.