UPDATE 2-EU presidency says gas dispute "bilateral problem"

(Adds comments on Russian meeting)

PRAGUE Jan 2 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic, the current EU president, said on Friday the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine was a bilateral problem and it would not step in until gas supplies to the bloc were affected.

Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine were cut in a contract dispute, raising concerns over deliveries to the European Union, with some states starting to report lower supplies already.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, one day after Prague took over the EU's rotating presidency, met officials from Ukraine, a transit route for a fifth of the gas to the EU, on Friday. Czech officials would likely meet their Russian counterparts in the coming days.

"The debate was about that it is quite unacceptable for the European Union that the conflict of two private companies would or should anyhow undermine the supply of gas to the European Union," said Czech EU presidency spokesman Jiri Potuznik.

"But at the moment we do believe it is a bilateral problem and is going to be solved by those two companies or their governments. We are not going to interfere until the moment when the pressure of gas will reach some low limits."

Potuznik later said Czech leaders would probably meet their Russian counterparts in the next few days to learn more about their position.

"We are deeply interested in the meeting with the Russians, and it looks like they are keen about the same thing, so it is very probable that the meeting will happen within next few days," he said.

The Czech EU presidency was starting to coordinate a common EU stance in case shortages get worse.

"If (gas) pressure is high enough, there is no real reason to do anything, but we have to be prepared," he said. "We have to be ready for the moment when the pressure of gas is lower than acceptable for us."

Ukraine said it had a large amount of gas in storage and was able to keep pipeline pressure at the normal amount on their own, Potuznik said. But he added: "Of course no one knows how big this storage is and what the reserves really are."

Czech pipeline operator RWE Transgas said there had been no interruptions to daily volumes and that Gazprom had told it the dispute should not cut volumes to western Europe. (Reporting by Jason Hovet; Writing by Michael Winfrey)