KIEV, Aug. 19 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday agreed to schedule a number of meetings this year aimed at increasing economic cooperation between the two countries.

Putin and Tymoshenko, who spoke by phone, agreed to hold a meeting on Sept. 1 during their trip to Poland, and scheduled another meeting in October in Kiev, Tymoshenko’s press service reported.

The plans for increasing contacts between Putin and Tymoshenko come in sharp contrast with the way the Russian leaders have been treating Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who last week accused Yushchenko of “anti-Russian” foreign policy, has been refusing to meet Yushchenko over the past 12 months. He also ruled out any contacts with Yushchenko through the end of January 2010.

However, the scheduled contacts between Tymoshenko and Putin suggest that Moscow has been increasingly viewing the Ukrainian prime minister as a figure that would not hurt Russian interests.

Moscow was unhappy with Yushchenko for his push to join NATO, a European military alliance that Russia considers a military threat, and for making other policy initiatives that bring Ukraine closer to the West.

Medvedev last week accused Yushchenko of “anti-Russian” policy and suspended the arrival of Russia’s new ambassador in Ukraine indefinitely to send a strong message.

Yushchenko’s idea of a summit to discuss the problems was flatly rejected by Medvedev, who plans to restart the contacts with the “new leadership” of Ukraine. Ukrainians are to vote to elect the next president on January 17, 2010.

Tymoshenko and Putin will be in Poland on September 1 at an invitation of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the press service reported.

Putin and Tymoshenko are also expected to chair a joint inter-government economic committee that will be held in Ukraine in October. The committee is supposed to discuss trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and Russia.

The parties seek to jointly manufacture An-70, a military transportation aircraft designed by Antonov, a Kiev-based aircraft design bureau. The plane is capable of landing and taking off from short and ground covered runways that make its use by the army.

Putin and Tymoshenko also praised the natural gas supply agreement they had negotiated in January to prevent gas supply disruptions.

“The prime ministers highly praised the implementation of the agreement by both parties,” the press service reported.

Naftogaz Ukrayiny, the national oil and gas company, has been relying on heavy borrowing, including from Russian gas company Gazprom and from the National Bank of Ukraine, for making monthly gas payments.

Putin said in June that Naftogaz woould default on the gas payment “sooner or later,” and widely expected the default in July. Naftogaz avoided the default after the NBU had lent the required amount of cash to make the payment. (tl/ez)