Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hopes the Russian Foreign Ministry’s efforts to ease tensions around Ukraine will have a positive result.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hopes the Russian Foreign Ministry’s efforts to ease tensions around Ukraine will have a positive result.

"I hope the initiative of Russia’s Foreign Ministry to level off the situation, to change it for the better, will have consequences and the result will be positive. Anyway, I hope that the provisional leaders (of Ukraine) will not do there something that will be impossible to correct," Putin said at a meeting with the Russian government.

Putin also demanded on Wednesday that the country remain disciplined and fulfill all contract obligations with Ukraine, but that Russia must be prepared to replace Ukrainian goods and correct state defense orders in case the situation demands.

"I ask you to be disciplined and fulfill all contract obligations with our Ukrainian partners, but we need to be prepared to any development of the situations, including import replacements," Putin said during a Cabinet meeting.

Putin asks government, Gazprom to refrain from transferring to advance payment plan for gas with Ukraine until after consultations with partners.