Ukraine plans to stop buying Russian gas from April 1, Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said in a briefing on Monday.

"At the moment we don't need to buy Russian gas. We will simply stop buying it," Demchyshyn said.

On Saturday, he said that Ukraine was confident Russia would have to lower the price it charges Kiev for gas as increased imports from the European Union have greatly reduced Ukraine's reliance on supplies from Gazprom.

Russia and Ukraine are discussing a new pricing arrangement once the current package expires at the end of March.