Russian is prepared fully to resume gas shipments starting Monday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Sunday morning after a prolonged negotiating session with his Ukrainian counterpart, dpa reported.
Putin and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko are set to sign documents ending the crisis - which has blocked shipments of Russian gas to Ukraine and much of Western Europe since the start of the year - on Monday.
However, experts have said it could take up to three days for gas supplies to reach Europe and for pressure to return to normal in pipelines after the taps are opened, which could continue to spell some short-term problems for some countries that are nearly out of supplies in freezing weather.
Under the agreement, Ukraine would be offered a 20 per cent discount on the market price for Russian gas deliveries this year, if it agrees to keep transits fees for pumping gas to Europe via its pipelines at the 2008 level.
The two post-Soviet neighbors will switch to European market prices in their gas trade from 2010, Putin said.
Europe receives a quarter of its gas from Russia - 80 per cent of which flows through Ukrainian pipelines.
It was still unclear Sunday if Tymoshenko had the backing of her political rival Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko for the deal she negotiated in Moscow.
Russia embargoed gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1 when Kiev balked at paying higher price for gas in 2009. Russia then halted all supplies of gas to Ukraine on January 7, accusing Kiev of stealing gas destined for European customers further downstream.
