KIEV, Aug. 26 - Ukraine will be able to store a comfortable level of natural gas reserves even without supplies of Russian gas, Energy and Coal Industry Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said Wednesday.

The comments come in contrast with Demrchyshyn’s statements earlier this month that Ukraine will need to resume Russian gas imports in order to survive the winter.

“We have two months before the heating season begins in October,” Demchyshyn said at a government meeting quoted by the government’s press service.