The European Union (EU) on Friday demanded that Russia and Ukraine immediately resume gas deliveries to the bloc's member states, saying that EU monitors for the process were already in place.

"There is now agreement on the details of the monitoring mission. It is now imperative that the gas starts to flow to the EU without any further delay," the European Commission said in a statement.

The Gas Coordination Group, chaired by the European Commission and composed of representatives of EU member states and their gas industries, met Friday in Brussels with experts from Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz to discuss the current gas crisis.

"The group urged both parties, Gazprom and Naftogaz, to resume gas supply respectively transit towards the EU immediately, independently from the evolution of their commercial negotiations," the Commission said in a separate statement.

It said the monitoring task force set up by the Commission with the industry had been established and the first observers were on their way to Kiev.

The EU reached a late-night deal Thursday with Russia on the deployment of monitors to check Russian gas flow via Ukraine after initial talks failed.

The EU's Czech presidency said the progress would lead to the resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

All Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine were shut down Wednesday as a gas row between Russia and Ukraine over payments escalated, resulting in supply crisis for a number of EU countries.

At least 15 nations, mostly in central and eastern Europe, had reported a stoppage in Russian gas shipments by Wednesday.

Caught up in the gas row between Russia and Ukraine and hit by freezing weather, several EU countries face a serious gas crisis, with factories shut down, schools closed and thousands of people left without gas for heating.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller has said his company stands ready to resume gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine once international monitors are in place.

But earlier talks on Thursday between the EU and top executives from Gazprom and Naftogaz in Brussels had failed to provide an agreement on the gas monitoring plan as Russia insisted that its experts be included in the mission, while Ukraine agreed to only allow EU monitors to supervise its transit system.

A breakthrough was made on Thursday night after Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek discussed the issue over the phone with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and reached a deal with his Russian counterpart on how to deploy the observers.

It remains unclear whether Russia will send monitors, but Ukraine said on Friday it will allow Russian experts to join the EU mission to monitor gas flow through its territory.

Meanwhile, Miller said he hoped a final monitoring deal would be signed on Friday, pledging to start pumping gas to Europe again once the monitors were in place at all eight Russian gas transit points in Ukraine.

It could take up to a day for European consumers to receive Russian gas, according to Gazprom.

The EU's Czech presidency said Topolanek was traveling to Kiev on Friday afternoon to discuss specific details of the functioning of the EU monitoring group. He will also ensure that the observers are deployed immediately at points that are relevant for the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine to the EU, so that supplies can be restored at an early date.

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2009)