As both parties gathered in Brussels to resolve the dispute, Ukraine’s Prime Minister went public to reject the $100 discount for gas supplies.

      According to Arseny Yatsenyuk, Kiev demands a change in the contract and will not fall into ‘traps’ set by Moscow.

      The Ukrainian and Russian minister are now holding negotiations on the price in Brussels.

      Earlier, Russia-IC reported that the previous round of talks that took place on June 9 in Brussels didn’t lead to any breakthroughs.

      Gazprom issued a warning it would switch to advance payments with Ukraine after June 16 if it fails to repay its mounting debt currently standing at almost 5 billion, according to the Russian gas giant.

      In May, Russia signed an historic deal with China on natural gas supplies with a view to diversify its exports amid similar calls in Europe.

      The exact price has not been disclosed but it’s been reported that the 30-year contract for the supplies of 38 billion cubic meters of gas could bring Russia as much as $400 billion.

      Elsewhere, Lithuania's competition council has fined Gazprom a whopping $48 million for allegedly preventing competition in the Baltic state where the Russian gas monopoly is the sole supplier.

      Gazprom is facing another investigation into a possible breach of competition rules in the EU.