LONDON, Jan 28 - Ukraine has hired Lazard to advise on talks with bondholders about a possible restructuring of its debt, sources close to the situation said on Wednesday, IFR reported.

The country's finance minister Natalia Yaresko confirmed that Ukraine was seeking to speak to creditors about options around its estimated US$70bn of sovereign debt last week.

This came as a "surprise" to many sovereign debt restructuring specialists, one of the sources said. "It seems as if the decision was forced upon Ukraine," the source said.