* The heads of Russian energy giant Gazprom and Ukraine's national natural gas company Naftogaz said the companies had signed a 5-year contract to supply Russian natural gas to Ukraine at $230 per 1,000 cu m through RosUkrEnergo, a company transporting Turkmen gas to Ukraine

* Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said the high price of Russian natural gas sold to RosUkrEnergo, a company transporting Turkmen gas to Ukraine, would be compensated for by cheaper gas supplies from Central Asia, so Ukraine would eventually buy the mixture of Russian and Turkmen gas at $95 per 1,000 cu m

* Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said Russia and Ukraine had good prospects for joint work in Ukraine's energy sphere now that the gas dispute had been settled

* Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said last year had proved the viability of such organizations as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Eurasian Economic Community (Eurasec)

* Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message to Chinese leader Hu Jintao that the Russian-Chinese relations had reached an unprecedented level in 2005