MOSCOW, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia should continue dialogue with Ukraine on gas issue, calling the neighbor as its important partner.

    "The dialogue must be supported," the Interfax news agency quoted Putin as saying at a meeting with Alexei Miller, CEO of Russia's state-run gas giant Gazprom.

    Putin said heads of the energy ministries of Russia and Ukraine recently has held a meeting.

    "At the corporate level, of course, the dialogue must continue in all areas. Ukraine is our important partner from the standpoint of gas transit," he said.

    On Thursday, Miller said after meeting with senior officials from major European consumers of Russian gas, such as Germany's Ruhrgas, Italy's Eni and Gaz de France, they drew a "common assessment" that the declaration signed between Ukraine and the European Commission concerning the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportation system is "unfeasible."

    The participants at the meeting agreed "to set up a working group that will gather in about six weeks at the same high level to discuss ways to enhance the reliability and stability of gas transit across the territory of European countries," Miller said.