28.01 Putin Says No Plans to Revise Ukraine Loan

BRUSSELS, January 28 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country will stick to its commitments to lend debt-strapped Ukraine $15 billion and reduce natural gas prices even if Ukraine’s new Cabinet of ministers is filled with opposition politicians.

“We will stand by our partners in Ukraine no matter who leads the Ukrainian government and holds a dialogue with us,” Putin told journalists after talks with European Union leaders in Brussels.

Hours after Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov announced his resignation on Tuesday, a senior official told The Wall Street Journal that Russia could reconsider its multibillion-dollar bailout offer to Ukraine.

The deal marked a decisive restoration of ties between Ukraine and Russia that had been strained by Kiev’s previously stated intention to seek a closer economic relationship with the EU.

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, however, told reporters that Russia could revise its agreements with Ukraine should the new government announce “another agenda.”