Russia, Ukraine Trumpet Gas Deal

In a deal Russia and Ukraine say will make gas cutoffs to European customers a thing of the past, the two countries have signed a 10-year agreement to restore the flow of Russian gas to Europe. The signing brought no joy to the European Union, however, which depends on Russia for 20 percent of its natural gas. It testily called for a delivery timetable after a two-week standoff between Russia and Ukraine over how much the latter should pay for the gas that flows from Russia. The crisis couldn’t have come for a worse time for the two Eastern European neighbors, both of which are showing “fresh signs of buckling under the strain of the financial crisis,” The Wall Street Journal reports.