The WSJ reports,"Ukraine and Russia were meeting Wednesday in a fresh effort to resolve their standoff over natural gas afterGazprom, OGZPY +0.24% Ukraine's state-run Naftogaz and the European Commission in Brussels failed to reach a deal in marathon negotiations on Monday.
Earlier, Russia gave Ukraine a further six days to reach a final agreement on prices, postponing its threat to cut off supply, Gazprom Chief ExecutiveAlexei Miller said, according to the Interfax news agency. The deadline for a deal is now June 16.
Mr. Putin said Kiev had refused a $100 per 1,000 cubic meter discount offer.
"Ukraine sees the discount as insufficient and insists on a bigger one; it's not clear why," Mr. Putin said as quoted by Interfax.
"We think that our proposals are more than just partnership and are aimed at supporting the Ukrainian economy in this difficult time," he said, adding that if Ukraine refuses to accept Russia's offer "we will live in a different dimension."
After annexing the country's Crimea region, Moscow raised the price it charges Ukraine for gas to $485.50 for 1,000 cubic meters in April, more than $200 above the price agreed between the two neighboring countries in late 2013.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk had earlier said that Ukraine is demanding a new gas contract and wants the price to be set at $268.50, the amount it paid for its first-quarter gas deliveries.
Moscow has repeatedly threatened to cut off Ukraine's gas supplies and switch to a prepayment system because of the country's outstanding gas bill.
Gazprom said a week ago that Ukraine owed $4.455 billion for gas—$1.454 billion for November and December, and another $3 billion for April and May".
