Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday the state's energy giant Gazprom will resume gas supplies to its European Union (EU) clients when international observers start monitoring gas transit via Ukraine.
Putin made the remarks during phone talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Itar-Tass news agency said.
"We are waiting for the protocol to be signed by the relevant EU commissioner. After that independent observers should go to the agreed-upon monitoring points," Putin said, noting Gazprom will resume gas supplies to the EU via Ukraine after that.
The EU said earlier that Russia had promised to resume gas supplies to the 27-nation bloc via Ukraine on Tuesday after a deal on the monitoring mission was finally agreed.
Gazprom announced earlier on Monday that Ukraine had signed a fresh copy of the EU-brokered gas transit deal and dropped its preconditions for the agreement, paving the way for the resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe.
Russia supplies about a quarter of the EU's natural gas, and some 80 percent of it is transported through Ukraine.
Moscow cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after the two sides failed to reach a new deal for 2009 and debt repayments.
All Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine were shut down last Wednesday as the gas row escalated, creating supply shortfalls for a number of EU countries, mostly in central and eastern Europe.
Source:Xinhua
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