The Russian President has said that a deal to supply natural gas at higher prices to Ukraine would secure stable long-term export supplies for Europe.
Vladimir Putin made the comment after Russia and Ukraine reached a five-year deal to end a bitter dispute over gas prices which disrupted supplies to Europe and cast doubt on Moscow's reliability as an energy supplier.
The European Union also welcomed the deal struck between Russia and Ukraine.
Supplies across continental Europe were severely disrupted on Monday when Russia switched off supplies to Ukraine.
Deliveries returned to normal on Tuesday when Russia turned back on the taps in the face of an outcry from its European customers.
Speaking on arrival for an emergency meeting of EU energy experts in Brussels this morning, the EU Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, welcomed the agreement and said it would help improve the atmosphere at the meeting.
Mr Piebalgs said the experts still wanted to discuss the security of EU gas supplies which had been affected by the temporary suspension.
Around 80% of Russia's gas exports to Europe traverse Ukraine and that proportion is unlikely to change until the next decade, when a link under the Baltic Sea to Germany is expected to come online.
Earlier this morning, it was announced that the state gas firms of the two countries have agreed that Ukraine will pay a substantially increased price for Russian gas imports at €190 per 1,000 cubic metres.
However, Ukraine will also be able to buy cheaper gas from the central Asian republics of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, piped from Russia, at €79 per 1,000 cubic metres.
The deal will last for the next five years.
Alexei Miller of the Russian gas monopoly, Gazprom, said the agreement would ensure stable supplies to central and western Europe.
