Ukraine wants to "reset" ties with Russia...

Azarov met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a government residence near Moscow on Thursday amid pledges to repair Russia-Ukraine ties badly damaged during the previous "Orange" presidency of West-leaning Viktor Yushchenko.

Ukraine is unhappy about the gas legacy left behind by former premier Yulia Tymoshenko, who signed a long-term gas deal with Putin in early 2009. Adding to the fuel mix-up, Russia introduced a market gas price for Ukraine earlier this year, which means that Kiev will have to pay $305 per 1,000 cu m of Russian gas in the first quarter, and the price is set to rise.

Ukraine has said the price is "unreasonably high," pointing to Belarus, which only pays $168. Putin deflected the Belarusian argument, saying that Russia and Belarus "are building a Union State and the Customs Union, and that is why we do not take a 30% custom duty [off Belarus]," according to Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

Indeed, in saying this, Putin may have indicated where Kiev

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