KIEV, June 18 - Ukraine and the European Union jointly work on a solution to purchase $4.2 billion worth of natural gas to fill Ukrainian underground gas tanks to secure steady gas transit to Europe, Naftogaz Ukrayiny reported Thursday.

A Naftogaz Ukrayiny team in Brussels met European Commission officials earlier Thursday to discuss two possible ways of solving the problem, Naftogaz said in a statement.

“The first one is to provide Ukraine with a loan of $4.2 billion,” Naftogaz said in the statement. “The second one is letting European companies purchase gas and store it in Ukrainian gas tanks.”