MOSCOW, Oct. 6  -- Moscow and Kiev should keep looking for compromise over the monthslong gas dispute, as the current situation in Ukraine calls for more flexible approach, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.

Search for compromises must be continued, and therefore contacts must go on, Medvedev said when meeting with ministers of economy and of energy respectively.

Taking Ukraine's economic situation into consideration, Russia has to put forward "acceptable" proposals, Medvedev said.

Russia offers Ukraine a "favorable" 20-percent discount of the contract price of 485 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas, Medvedev said, which is only valid for six winter months.

Still, "the debts must be paid off," Interfax news agency quoted Medvedev as saying.

Medvedev also ordered a thorough monitor of Kiev's obligations to postpone implementation of the European Union (EU)-Ukraine association agreement until 2016. The deal aimed at removing trade barriers between the two sides has been ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament and the European Parliament on Sept. 16.

The EU delayed until Jan. 1, 2016 the provisional application of the agreement's title on trade and related matters. Still the provisional application of much of the rest of the agreement is to start on Nov. 1.

Medvedev reiterated that Moscow would impose import duties on Ukrainian goods in 10 days in case Kiev starts to implement the agreement about the free trade zone with the EU.

On Oct. 1, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso expressed concerns about the Russian government's proposal on trade barriers over Ukraine and called for rapid and decisive progress in the trilateral gas talks for the upcoming winter period.

Ukraine and Russia have been embroiled in a standoff on gas pricing for a few months. In June, Russia cut all gas supplies to Ukraine as the two sides failed to reach an agreement on payments.

The EU is heavily dependent on Russia, from whom it imports a third of its oil needs, 39 percent of gas and 26 percent of solid fuels, according to official EU statistics.