KIEV, March 5 - The date of signing a new gas agreement between Ukraine and Russia depends on when the Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS) will have been appraised, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov said.

"Today I can only see one thing: if the appraisal of the Ukrainian GTS is conducted until August 1, it is absolutely obvious that the best scenario is that the agreement (will be reached) only in the second half of the year," said Zurabov, responding to a question about the status of gas talks.