Ukraine and Russia have reached a deal on the price of natural gas, officials announced Wednesday.

The Ukrainian natural gas company agreed to a price of $230 per thousand cubic meters of gas, The Associated Press reported, citing the head of Russia's gas monopoly, Gazprom.
Alexei Miller's announcement came after Russia stopped selling natural gas to the neighboring country of 48 million on Sunday following Ukraine's rejection of its demand for a more-than-fourfold price increase.

Energy ministers from the European Union had planned to meet Wednesday in emergency session in Brussels to discuss how to respond to this week's short-lived attempt by Russia to boost the price for natural gas to Ukraine.

The dispute between Russia and Ukraine had underscored the vulnerability of Russia's customers in Europe, sparking debate in capitals across the continent about energy security and supplies.

Though Russia rescinded its demand Sunday for a price hike from Ukraine and restored the flow, several countries were reassessing whether they wanted to continue to be beholden to Russia to meet their energy needs.

"We must not get fully relaxed, since the original reason of conflict between Russia and Ukraine is not resolved yet," said Janos Koka, Hungary's minister of economy and transportation.

He called for alternative energy sources to be explored and for the creation of a strategic storage supply.

The security of the gas supply "needs to be on the forefront of our perspectives," he said.

Gazprom halted deliveries to Ukraine on Sunday after Kiev refused to meet its demands for a fourfold price increase.

The company -- which provides a quarter of Western Europe's natural gas needs, 80 percent of which flows through pipelines that cross Ukraine -- said it had planned to continue shipping full supplies to those customers.

But shortly after supplies to Ukraine were halted, other countries began reporting reduced pressure in their pipelines -- some by more than 30 percent.

Russia responded by accusing Ukraine of stealing gas that was intended for other European countries. Ukraine vigorously denied the charges but said it may have to tap some gas if temperatures fall below freezing.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has called the supply cut "unacceptable" and his country's foreign ministry said the move amounted to economic "blackmail."

Ukrainian officials claim the price hike is an attempt by Russia to penalize the former Soviet republic for its Western-leaning foreign policy. Russia maintains the increase would bring prices in line with global gas costs.