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Ukraine will have to go to court, if no gas deal with Russia is concluded

"If we fail to come to terms, then we will just have no other option left,” Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said

KIEV, January 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Ukraine will be forced to appeal to an international court of arbitration, if negotiations between Kiev and Moscow over gas end inconclusively, Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said on a local television station in Khmelnitsky.

“The possibility of a judicial solution remains. We do not brush it off altogether. If we fail to come to terms, then we will just have no other option left,” he said, adding he hoped things would not go that far.

Azarov said that even if a litigation began, it would last at least one year, during which time the country would have to pay for gas under the existing contracts.

“What if the court’s ruling is not in our favor? Can there be such a thing? What sort of arguments we would have still left?” he asked.