By Denis Dyomkin and Huw Jones
MOSCOW/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday it would restore supplies to Europe through Ukraine, cut off after a dispute between Moscow and Kiev, once international monitors were in place.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said a "collapse" of the authorities in Kiev and high-level corruption in Ukraine were partly to blame for the crisis, which has cut off supplies to European states at the height of a bitterly cold snap.
Russia cut off gas supplies to its neighbour on January 1 in a row over pricing. Putin said the dragging dispute was damaging Russia's image and called on Ukrainian leaders to come to Moscow to sign a deal.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Ukraine had accepted 'terms of reference' on gas monitoring. But the head of the Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom Alexei Miller said Ukraine had not yet signed a deal.
Putin also urged EU states to diversify energy routes. The European Union receives a quarter of its gas from Russia -- 80 percent of which comes via Ukraine.
The 27-nation bloc, which hosted talks between the two sides in Brussels on Thursday, accused Russia and Ukraine of "showing insufficient determination to solve the problem, which damages their credibility."
It wants an EU mission to monitor Russian gas flows through Ukraine to help protect its supplies from arguments between Moscow and Kiev over gas prices, transit fees and Ukraine's debts to Moscow.
The gas cut-offs have left hundreds of thousands of people in the Balkans without gas, forced factories to shut down and disrupted deliveries as far west as France and Germany.
"We need to resume the gas flows in Europe. We can't be blackmailed," said Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra, whose country holds the EU presidency.
Gazprom's Miller, speaking after talks with EU officials in Brussels, also said he would hold further face-to-face talks with Ukraine's Naftogaz on a flight back to Moscow to try to restore supplies to Europe.
"This must be resolved today," Miller told reporters.
Ukraine said the monitors could be in place on Friday, although a European Commission energy director said they would take two days to be ready.
France and Germany said Russia had to honour its gas contracts with Europe regardless of the dispute, but they also warned Ukraine not to forget its own obligations.
"We expect the talks between Ukraine and Russia to yield quick results," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Paris after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
(Additional reporting by James Kilner in Moscow, Guy Faulconbridge in Kiev, Marcin Grajewski in Brussels; Martin Santa in Bratislava; Jan Lopatka in Prague; Writing by Jon Boyle; editing by Ralph Boulton)
