KIEV, Nov. 25 - Ukraine sees $100 as a fair price for 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas in 2009, a top aide to President Viktor Yushchenko said Tuesday.

The price target is a quarter of what Russian natural gas giant Gazprom has threatened to charge Ukraine next year in case the country fails to pay $2.4 billion gas debt.

“Falling crude oil prices lead to lower natural gas prices,” Oleksandr Shlapak, a deputy chief of staff at the Yushchenko office, said at a press conference. “Gas prices will continue to fall and that’s why Ukrainian consumers should get a much better price.”