KIEV, May 13 - Ukraine is in talks with Russia and the European Union to create a joint venture to upgrade and to operate Ukrainian natural gas pipelines, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Thursday.

“We began the talks with both, Russia and the EU,” Azarov told reporters. “We are returning to the idea of gas transportation consortium.”

Azarov said that at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on April 30 the parties had preliminary agreed to complete the talks before the end of June.