KIEV, October 9. /TASS/. Ukraine has agreed to the date of three-party gas talks involving Ukraine, the European Union and Russia set for October 21, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yury Prodan said Thursday. 

“When I am asked about the date, I am ready to (meet) even now, because this is a very important issue. So October 21 is okay for us,” Prodan said.

He did not rule out a meeting in Kiev with EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger prior to the trilateral meeting.

EC Vice President Guenther Oettinger on Thursday proposed to his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts holding the next tripartite meeting on October 21 in Berlin, a spokesman for the EC told TASS on Thursday.

Yury Prodan did not rule out meeting with Oettinger in Kiev prior to the trilateral meeting.

The date and venue are to be agreed by all three parties, he said.

Earlier, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the country’s readiness to supply gas to Ukraine at $385 per 1,000 is “our historical position, a very favorable one for Ukraine”. He praised the trilateral talks and urged their continuation.