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Putin questions conviction of former Ukrainian PM

11 October 2011 19:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that he "does not understand" why former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was convicted of abuse of power, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying during his visit to Beijing that Tymoshenko had not signed anything herself as "the contracts were signed between economic agents," namely Russia’s gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz.

He added that the agreements were in full compliance with Russian and Ukrainian laws.

The Russian prime minister warned that it was "dangerous" and "counterproductive" to question existing gas agreements between Russia and Ukraine.

Earlier Tuesday, a Ukrainian court sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for squandering public funds and exceeding her powers by signing a 2009 gas deal with Russia.

The Ukrainian government has long urged Russia to review the existing gas pricing formula, but the two sides have not yet reached consensus on the issue.