KIEV, Feb. 27 - If the amount of Russian gas flowing through Ukraine's gas-transport system goes down, the country can pump Central Asian and Azerbaijani gas to Europe, prime ministerial press secretary Vitaliy Lukyanenko said.

"We assume that the pipe is being freed [from Russian gas]. It means that it will be possible to pump Central Asian and Azerbaijani gas through it, and it will be possible to work on such projects," Lukyanenko told Interfax when asked what Prime Minister Mykola Azarov had in mind when he said that if Russia stops transiting gas to Europe via Ukraine's gas-transport system Ukraine will find a way out of the situation.