Moscow/Prague/Brussels, Jan 12 (DPA) Ukraine has agreed to sign a fresh accord for monitors to measure gas flow to Europe, minus the declaration that led Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to rescind the agreement, the European Commission said Monday.
The move follows phone calls by commission president Jose Barroso to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Timoshenko late Sunday night.
The commission said that Ukraine's additions did not affect the validity of the monitoring deal.
Medvedev Sunday rescinded the EU-brokered accord, citing changes by Ukraine.
In a televised statement, Medvedev urged EU officials to pressure Ukraine into withdrawing a 'false' addendum to the document that Putin ratified Saturday.
With the additions, Ukraine had not only distorted the meaning of the document that had been signed by all sides but it had also introduced issues that had nothing to do with the gas dispute, Putin claimed.
The Czech Republic's energy envoy Vaclav Bartuska, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said the so-called declaration by the Ukrainian side did not change the legality of the mandate for the observer mission.
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