The European Union (EU) said on Wednesday it will send monitors to check the flow of Russian gas intended for Europe via Ukraine after the supplies were completely cut off.
"We really hope that the Russians put the gas in the ... Ukrainian network and that Ukrainians do not interrupt the gas from Russia coming to the European Union," Barroso told reporters in Prague after a meeting with the Czech EU presidency.
"We have received assurances, both from (Russian) Prime Minister Putin and (Ukrainian) Prime Minister Tymoshenko, that they both accept international monitors to verify on the ground that this is really working," he added.
All Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine were shut down earlier Wednesday as a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine escalated, with both side blaming each other.
Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz alleged Russia had cut off all gas supplies through Ukraine to Europe, while Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said it was Kiev that stopped deliveries of Russian gas to Europe.
But Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later on Wednesday approved a proposal by Gazprom to stop pumping gas to Europe via Ukraine, accusing Kiev of "stealing" gas in transit.
Russia said it will only resume gas supplies until international monitors are in place.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said both Gazprom and Naftogaz officials and their government representatives had been invited for a meeting in Brussels on Thursday, which will set technical conditions of a monitoring mission.
"If this is agreed, nothing will stand in the way for transit supplies to be restored ... That does not mean that success is 100percent assured," Topolanek said.
Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after the two countries failed to reach an agreement on gas prices for 2009, immediately resulting in disruptions of transit supplies to EU member states.
About a quarter of the gas used in the EU, or more than 40 percent of the bloc's imports, comes from Russia.
Ukraine sits on the main transit route for Russia's gas exports, with about 80 percent of Russian gas supplied to the EU passing through it.
A similar dispute over gas prices between Kiev and Moscow erupted in 2006 when Gazprom cut all gas supplies to Ukraine, raising deep concerns among European customers.
Source:Xinhua
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