KYIV. Jan 10 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry hopes that problems such as the recent gas conflict will not reoccur in Ukrainian- Russian relations.

"We hope that further cooperation with the Russian Federation will prevent further aggravations," said head of the ministry's press service Vasyl Filipchuk.

The legislative basis of Ukrainian-Russian relations allows for the solving of such issues "in a calm manner, without hysterics, offense or the open "harassment" of our state, which we witnessed during the gas dispute," he said. Ukraine has drawn several conclusions from this situation, he said. It realizes the necessity of diversifying energy sources and of developing alternative types of fuel and energy saving technologies, he said.

Commenting on a statement made by former Ukrainian Foreign Minister and current Industrial Group deputy president Oleksander Chalyi, whereby he called the gas problem "a Pearl Harbor for Ukrainian diplomacy," Filipchuk said that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had not participated directly in the gas talks. Chalyi considers the gas agreements catastrophic for Ukraine and hopes that parliament will force the government to annul them.

Euro-Atlantic integration will be the foreign ministry's priority in 2006, he said.

"This year the foreign ministry will continue work aimed at achieving the strategic goal of our state, namely the acquisition of full EU and NATO membership," he said.

Ukraine will continue the work aimed at the implementation of the Ukraine-EU plan of actions, the completion of talks on WTO accession and the creation of a free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU, the creation of a common readmission space between Ukraine, the EU and Ukraine's neighboring states, as well as talks on a relaxed visa process for Ukrainian citizens, he said. Ukraine will also seek to create the necessary conditions for a NATO decision to invite it to form a plan of action for acquiring the membership of the organization, he said.

The ministry will also pay special attention to the new content of the dialogue with its strategic partners - the United States, Poland and Russia. Ukraine will also take active part in the settlement of frozen conflicts, including the Transdniestrian issue, he said.