Moscow  - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he hoped gas transits to Europe would be resumed in "the next few days," but offered no immediate solution to the crisis Saturday.

Medvedev said talks "are continuing" on resolving the Russian-Ukrainian deadlock and would now be taken up in a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko.

But he accused Ukraine of dragging its feet in talks.

Moscow - Ukrainian leaders were set to arrive in Moscow on Saturday in a push to end a protracted contractual dispute with Russia that has frozen nearly all gas supplies to Europe.

The European Union, which buys one-quarter of its gas from Russia, called the talks the "last and best chance" for both sides to salvage their reputation as reliable suppliers.

Sofia - Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said on Friday that his country would restart a Soviet-era nuclear power reactor at Kozloduy, in the face of severe ongoing gas shortages due to the energy dispute between Ukraine and Russia.

Bulgarian news agency Focus reported that Stanishev said his government had decided to begin the 45-day technical preparation process to restart the reactor, because the country had still received no gas from its Russian supplier.

Earlier on Friday, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov called for a new European Union energy policy in the wake of the ongoing dispute.

Brussels/Moscow/Kiev/Berlin - Saturday's gas summit between Russia and Ukraine is the "last and best chance" for both sides to salvage their reputation as reliable suppliers, the European Union said Friday as it faced another freezing week with reserves running low.

Russia warned European leaders they must attend the Moscow summit if they cared to see gas flow renewed because bilateral talks would no longer suffices.

"Unfortunately, this issue has gotten beyond bilateral relation," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying.

Ljubljana - Slovenia's prime minister on Friday told the head of Russian natural gas monopolist Gazprom that eastern European countries should not have to go without gas due to a trade dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

Neither Slovenia, or other European Union members should be held hostage to the unresolved issues between Russia and Ukraine, Prime Minister Borut Pahor told Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller during a meeting in Slovenia's capital.

Berlin - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin toured the International Green Week Agricultural Fair in Berlin on Friday ahead of talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel was expected to use the late afternoon meeting to urge the Russian leader to resolve the gas dispute with Ukraine as soon as possible.

A government spokesman said Merkel expected Moscow and Kiev to adhere to their contractual obligations and resume natural gas supplies to Europe without further delay.