A long-term agreement

The presidents of Ukraine and Turkmenistan have agreed to sign a long-term agreement under which Turkmenistan will provide its partner with natural gas. The two agreed in a telephone conversation Saturday that Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma will travel to Ashgabat in early May to sign the deal with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov. Under an existing five-year agreement between the two former Soviet republics that ends in 2006, Turkmenistan provides Ukraine with about 35 billion cubic meters of gas annually. The Associated Press reports the new agreement is for 25 years.