Ukraine leader gives PM 3 days to report on gas

KIEV, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday gave his prime minister a three-day deadline to take steps to resolve a dispute over gas debts with Russia and ensure uninterrupted transit to Europe.

"I am asking for an urgent analysis of the situation and implementation of full-fledged measures to ensure uninterrupted supplies of gas," the president said in a telegram to Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko appearing on his Internet site.

The telegram gave Tymoshenko until Monday to report back to him. Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) has threatened to cut off some supplies to Ukraine from Monday unless what it describes as arrears of $1.5 billion are settled. (Writing by Ron Popeski, Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov)