Gas will be flowing into Europe ‘within hours’ after Ukraine, Russia and the EU signed an agreement on Sunday to enable the resumption of supplies to Europe, large parts of which have been plunged into a mid-winter energy crisis.

Officials said monitors would begin work within hours to oversee gas flows via Ukraine to Europe, cut off last week amid a price dispute between Kiev and Moscow and Russian accusations that Ukraine was "stealing" gas.

"We were able to reach a political agreement aimed at getting out of the deadlock ... Ukraine has accepted all the terms needed for Russia to supply gas," said Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, representing the EU presidency.

Some experts say it could take up to 36 hours from the time gas starts flowing for capacity to build up in pipelines so that supplies reach consumers in Europe, which relies on Russia for a quarter of its gas needs.

After getting Russia's signature on Saturday, Mr Topolanek travelled to Kiev to persuade Ukraine to sign the deal to allow European Union, Ukrainian and Russian observers to monitor gas flows across Ukrainian territory.

The agreement, sealed in the early hours of Sunday, applied only to Russian gas passing through Ukraine for European consumption. Russia and Ukraine have not reached agreement on supplies to Ukraine and they remain cut off.

The deal is designed to assuage Russian fears that Ukraine is siphoning off fuel for its own use. Kiev denies the charge.

Asked when Russian gas supplies would resume, Mr Topolanek told reporters: "According to the agreement, Russia will start supplying gas when the (monitors) have been deployed."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said: "We signed the protocol today to show that Ukraine is not an obstacle for Russian gas sent.

"This protocol envisages also the entry of experts on Russian territory to observe gas supplies from the Russian side."

"As soon as the mechanism of control starts working, we will send the gas to the system. If we see that it is stolen again, we will again cut flows," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said after talks with Mr Topolanek in Moscow.

The dispute, which began when Russia and Ukraine could not agree on this year's gas prices, has led to the worst disruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

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