MOSCOW, April 22. /ITAR-TASS/. In the near future Russia will employ a system of advance pay for gas, which will be a tough, but fair decision if the problem of Ukraine's outstanding gas debt is not settled, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Duma deputies on Tuesday.

"It is highly probable that in the near future our partners will be unable to start a process of settlement of the debt they owe to Russia, and we will have to employ a system of advance pay. Russia will supply as much gas as Ukraine pays for in advance. In other words, it will be a system of "gas for money,” Medvedev said.

"It will be a very tough, but fair decision. Therefore, our task is to diversify Russian gas supply routes and make Ukraine pay off its bills," he said.

Commenting on proposals made by the LDPR faction to sell gas from the Russo-Ukrainian border, Medvedev said that gas contracts makeup the basis of Russia's gas cooperation with Europe. "We appreciate the contract system of gas supply because it stipulates long-term conditions for gas cooperation with Europe. Such contracts are of advantage to us, and we are not interested in breaking them off, but want them to be fulfilled," Medvedev said.

“The existing problems over gas debt is not a matter of the present day. Regrettably, any Ukrainian leadership, irrespective of president or prime minister, had been doing one and the same thing - using the Russian gas illegally. As a matter of fact, it was as simple as that: they had been stealing, following one and the same principle: not to pay for gas, which they continue to do now.

The names of the Ukrainian leaders have been changing in a kaleidoscopic pace, while their politics remains the same- " let them wait, we will pay later, negotiate it with them, involve European partners, given that Americans had already interfered, making their so-called "new gas" offer. "

“All this is pure bluff, while the overdue debt worth 2,200 million dollars that has been growing, is a fact," Medvedev stressed.