Vladimir Putin: Honestly, I don’t quite understand why she was sentenced to seven years in prison. For Russia and for me personally, Tymoshenko is neither a friend nor a relative. She is more like a political opponent, because as you know, she has always been a pro-Western politician, relatively speaking. Personally, I believe that both Russia and Ukraine would benefit more from additional competitive advantages, if we were to combine our efforts during integration processes in the post-Soviet space. This would simply be more profitable. I’m not talking about any kind of politics here, I'm simply expressing a purely pragmatic economic stance. But of course, this is always the sovereign choice of another country, in this case, Ukraine. Incidentally, judging by the public statements of the incumbent leaders, they share essentially the same viewpoint. Little has changed here.

As concerns issues of gas, I don’t know the exact wording of the court’s indictment. Judging by media reports, the guilty verdict is linked with the signing of Russian-Ukrainian gas contracts. First of all, Tymoshenko didn’t sign anything. The contracts were signed at the level of legal entities, namely Gazprom and Naftogaz of Ukraine.

Secondly, this is not the most important aspect here. Most importantly, these commercial contracts were signed in full accordance with Russian and Ukrainian laws, as well as international regulations and norms. While drafting these documents, we were guided by the practical experience of Gazprom’s relations with other European partners. The relevant contracts stipulate the very same gas-price calculation formula as that which was laid out in similar contracts with other European partners. It was the very same formula! But of critical importance is the fact that we have divided the contract for the delivery of gas to Ukraine and the contract for gas transit to EU countries for the first time in the many years of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation. This is a fundamental issue, because it does not connect any contentious Russian-Ukrainian bilateral agreements in the gas sector with the transit of Russian gas to European countries. I believe that it is dangerous and counterproductive to call into doubt the entire range of such agreements. Thank you.