European Commission Eyes Gas deal with Russia, Ukraine

Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission can reach a deal on gas supplies to Ukraine and via that country to Europe by end September if all sides show goodwill to resolve outstanding issues, the Commission's vice president said on Tuesday.

Maros Sefcovic said he hoped that a final round of talks would take place before the end of the month, adding that a deal would send a reassuring signal that Europe will receive stable gas supplies this winter.

"I can promise you that I will do my utmost to make sure that we will try to do everything to make the next winter more or less the same as we have the last one," Sefcovic told an energy forum in Bulgaria.

"We have had two very good rounds of bilateral meetings with Ukrainian and Russian delegations. Now we have a text upon which we are working and I hope that before the end of the month we will be able to proceed to the final round of negotiations."

Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova