The Czech Presidency of the EU says a deal has now been worked out that would allow Russian gas supplies to Europe to resume. The Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek, will now fly to Kiev to finalise the deal with the Ukrainians. Gabriel Gatehouse has sent this report from Kiev:

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This appeared on Thursday night to be the key demand from Moscow, the condition on which Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, would agree to turn on the taps.

But, even if the deal is accepted by all sides and gas flows to Europe resume, there are still difficult negotiations ahead on the underlying issue that caused the switch-off in the first place: how much Ukraine should pay Russia for the gas it consumes, and how much Russia should pay Ukraine in return, in transit fees. Until that issue is resolved, this crisis is far from settled.

Gabriel Gatehouse, BBC News, Kiev

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flowing back
delivered/supplied again

accept the presence of Russian monitors
allow specially appointed Russian representatives to enter Ukraine and check the gas flow

key demand
a strong and very important request

giant
here, a very big company

to turn on the taps
here, to begin to deliver gas

resume
begin again, continue after a halt

underlying issue
an important disagreement that is not immediately obvious

caused the switch-off in the first place
was the first and main reason for Russia to stop its gas supplies

transit fees
where there is no common border between the exporter country and the importer country, money is paid to the country that lies between them so that it allows the passage of exported goods through its territory

far from settled
not likely to be resolved soon

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