RIA Novosti cited Mr Natalia Timakova the press secretary of the Russian president as saying that Russia has reached an agreement with Turkmenistan on resuming natural gas supplies from the Central Asian country.

He said that "The resumption of gas supplies is the result of negotiations held between the Russian and Turkmen presidents in September during the visit by the Russian head of state to Turkmenistan."

Mr Timakova said the parties reached a political agreement on the resumption of gas supplies, and that Gazprom is now carrying through the decision.

Turkmenistan earlier accused Russia of failing to give warning that it was reducing gas imports, resulting in a buildup of pipeline pressure that caused the blast. Gazprom reduced gas imports after a drop in demand from European consumers amid the global economic crisis.

Mr Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov president of Turkmenistan said after the talks with his Russian counterpart Mr Dmitry Medvedev in September in the Caspian port city of Turkmenbashi that all issues relating to the resumption of Turkmen gas supplies to Russia had been resolved, and that Gazprom would buy natural gas from Turkmenistan according to a specific formula, as the Russian company considers the current price too high given the economic environment.

(Sourced from RIA Novosti)