KIEV, April 5 – Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on Tuesday declined speculation that Russia may have offered lower natural gas prices for Ukraine in exchange for Kiev rejecting closer political and economic ties with Brussels.

“Russia has never demanded and never suggested this,” Azarov told reporters asked if Moscow had offered changing the gas price formula. “These things are totally not connected.”

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is due to visit Ukraine on April 12 for a range of talks, including energy, trade and aerospace sector cooperation.