LONDON, March 23 - Ukraine has officially invited Russia to participate in debt restructuring talks but has not yet received a response, the country's Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko said on Monday, Reuters reported.

Russia holds $3 billion worth of bonds that mature in December and are part of the debt Ukraine needs to restructure under an IMF aid program agreed earlier this month.

Russian government officials, including finance minister Anton Siluanov, have told reporters they will not restructure and Yaresko said that Russia had remained silent to its request for discussions.

"We have welcomed them to consultations, we have contacted them officially and we have not had a response," Yaresko said at an event organized by London-based think-tank OMFIF.

"For now all we have is a variety of public statements from the Russian government," she added. "We hope to have collaborative talks with Russia."

Ukraine has set itself a deadline of June to complete debt restructuring that is needed to plug a $15 billion funding gap in the IMF program. But with Russia involved and U.S. fund giant Franklin Templeton owning much of debt, many analysts are skeptical about meeting the timetable.

Yaresko said the aim was to reach a legal agreement with creditors by the time of the June IMF review, while the actual restructuring transaction could be completed later.

Creditors have balked at the restructuring which Ukraine has said will involve extending maturities, and reducing coupons and face value of the bonds but Jaresko said failing to meet the terms of the IMF package was not an option.

"Reaching that ($15.3 billion) target is an absolute must, it's set in stone," she said, adding Ukraine didn't want to repeat the mistakes of Argentina or Greece. "We will be flexible within that target." (rt/ez)