Ukraine will strive to pay Russia $400 million for the gas it imported last month, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan said during a Monday briefing in Kyiv.

"We have debt that the previous leadership of the country left us [of] around $1.5 billion. Now, from the funds we are receiving, we continue to pay on this debt, but, of course, we cannot pay at such [rapid] rates to pay off all the debt," Prodan said. "In the near future, we want to move to making the current payments that there are. That is around $400 million for February," he said.