MOSCOW, June 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Any issues concerning the future of the Ukrainian gas pipeline system cannot be resolved without Russia’s participation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksander Lukashevich said on Thursday.

“We have long invited Ukraine to have a fundamental discussion of its gas pipeline system and its problems in a trilateral format involving Russia, Ukraine and the European Union,” Lukashevich said. “The European Commission has decided that this issue will concern only Ukraine’s relations with the EU.”

“I believe that without Russia’s participation there is no chance of whatsoever of resolving such issues,” Lukashevich said.