European
Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso confirmed Tuesday that Russian gas had
finally started reaching Europe and vowed to work with Moscow and Kiev despite
their handling of the crisis.
"We can now tell our citizens that gas is finally on its way," he
told reporters in Brussels.
"Our monitors on the ground report that the gas is flowing normally."
In a short but emotional press conference, Barroso complained about the lack of
leadership from Russia and Ukraine, which led to natural gas supplies being hit
in around a dozen EU nations some two weeks ago.
"I was very disappointed in these days about the way the leadership in
these two countries negotiated," he said, after Russia resumed gas
supplies to Europe via Ukraine following their price dispute.
"It is the first time in my life that I have seen agreements that were
systematically not implemented," he said.
"There is some lesson that we have to draw from this situation."
But he added: "Russia and Ukraine are important partners."
"It is in our interest in keeping and developing our relations."
Barroso also added that in spite of the partnernish Europe should be always
ready for an unexpectedly gas crisis.
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