BRUSSELS, December 9. /TASS/. The European Commission has confirmed its intention to resume the gas talks between the Union, Russia and Ukraine at the beginning of 2015, EU Commissioner for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic said Tuesday following a meeting of EU energy ministers.

He said he expects the EU to resume talks with Ukraine and Russia over normalizing energy relations, and the talks should become part of efforts aimed at normalizing Moscow-Kiev relations by easing tensions and restoring cooperation.

The Ukrainian crisis once again confirmed the necessity of further diversification of energy supplies to Europe, Italian Deputy Economic Development Minister Claudio De Vincenti said separately.

During the previous round of trilateral gas talks, held in October, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a gas price for Kiev, its redemption of part of its debt and prepayments for gas supplies through this winter season. A new agreement has to be signed for gas giant Gazprom to supply gas to Ukraine after winter ends.