Ukraine 'Needs Gas from EU,' Says Prime Minister

Ukraine needs energy supplies from the EU, its Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Saturday.

At a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, he explained European gas will help Ukraine overcome repercussions from its standoff with Russia.

"We need gas supplies from Europe to ensure our energy security," he was quoted as saying by German newspaper Die Zeit.

Strengthening and modernizing Ukraine's military was on the agenda at the meeting in Kiev. Steinmeier declared that the international community will not allow for Ukraine and Russia's conflict to create new faultlines in Europe.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that Steinmeier also visited Eastern Ukraine and met figures of Donetsk's municipal administration, including governor Serhiy Taruta and businessman Rinat Ahmetov, who has key positions in mining and steel industries.

In Donetsk, which is part of Ukraine's industrial heart, Taruta was appointed governor by the new Ukrainian leadership after Viktor Yanukovych was ousted on February 22. He is frequenly described as an "oligarch" who previously had links to Yanukovych.