Russia's plan to build a bypass pipeline around Ukraine suffered a blow this week following an agreement by Poland to buy gas from Norway.

The deal is likely to make Warsaw more resistant to Moscow's strategy and could spur Russia's attempts to mend fences with Kyiv. A deal reached on 29 August by Poland and Norway could spell the end of Russia's long campaign to pressure Ukraine over its pipelines that transport Russian gas. The British "Financial Times" reported that Norway's agreement to sell 74 billion cubic meters of gas to Poland over a 16-year period will reduce Warsaw's dependence on Russia for fuel supplies. The deliveries by Norway's Statoil to the Polish Oil and Gas Company, known as PGNiG, would start in 2008 and rise quickly to 5 billion cubic meters annually through 2024. Although the amount seems relatively small, Poland consumed only about 11 billion cubic meters of gas last year. Over 60 percent of that was imported from Russia. The deal is important because of the three-way tensions that have been building among Russia, Poland, and Ukraine over Kyiv's use of Russian gas and Moscow's attempts to solve the problem. Some 90 percent of Russia's gas exports to Europe run through the former Soviet pipelines in Ukraine. But Russia has frequently charged Ukraine with illicitly tapping the gas. Ukraine also owes an estimated $1.3 billion for past Russian supplies. In July of last year, Russia announced it would try to build a bypass line through Poland and Slovakia to reduce its reliance on Ukraine and eventually double energy exports to the European Union. The agreement with Norway, which has been debated for months, may help Poland in at least two ways. It limits Moscow's power to pressure Warsaw over its stand on the bypass by ending its role as monopoly supplier. It may also satisfy an EU directive on diversifying energy sources, which may aid Poland's drive to join the EU. On the downside, Poland will pay more for Norwegian gas, which will require a new pipeline to be built across the Baltic Sea. Poland's neighbor Germany may also be displeased, since Germany's Ruhrgas is a shareholder in Russia's Gazprom and a partner in studying the bypass plan.