KIEV, March 6 - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, in a letter to President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday, insisted that her government should arrange direct supplies of natural gas from Russia without setting up new joint ventures.

The plan, suggested by Tymoshenko, directly contradicts a preliminary agreement between Yushchenko and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that joint ventures must be created to replace the two gas traders they sacked as part of the deal.