Russia: Ukraine's Winter Gas Problem May Have Been Solved

Russia's energy minister said after gas talks with Ukraine in Berlin on Friday that an interim deal mediated by the European Union could be the basis for a solution over the winter, though Russia would only supply Ukraine once pre-payments were made.

Moscow would require partial payments of at least $2 billion by the end of October and another $1.1 billion by year end, said Energy Minister Alexander Novak, concurring with an outline of the deal by European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger.

(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum and Markus Wacket; Writing by Stephen Brown and Alexandra Hudson)