Russia will resume gas deliveries to Europe by tomorrow (13 January) after it reached an agreement with Ukraine over deploying monitors for the international pipeline.

The agreement was a precondition for resuming Russian energy supplies to Europe through pipelines over Ukraine.

Shipments will restart "as soon as we are sure that the observers are on site in Ukraine," Russian government spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said. ''Gazprom is ready and willing to renew the transit of gas as soon as it is possible," he said.

Gas destined for European Union countries should resume early on Tuesday after all involved parties agreed to settle a row over Russian supplies to Europe via Ukraine, Gazprom's deputy chief executive said.

''Gas supplies will be restarted at 8 o'clock (0700 GMT),'' Alexander Medvedev said at  conference in Brussels, adding, ''We all hope it will happen tomorrow.''

EC president José Manuel Barroso also said Russia and Ukraine have finally signed an agreement to deploy international pipeline monitors.

The agreement came after Ukraine, Russia and the European Union approved a deal to deploy the monitors.

While the deal would help resume badly-needed gas supplies to Europe, the dispute between Russia and Ukraine over gas pricing remains unsolved.

Russia accuses Ukraine of stealing its gas meant for Europe to make up for losses it has suffered since Moscow turned off the tap on 1 January following a dispute over gas prices.

The current agreement is only for dispatching gas to Europe and it makes no difference for Ukraine. The only lasting solution is for Ukraine to pay a market price for Russian gas.

Normal supplies of gas to Europe may take a few more days to restore, the spokesman said.