Polish president raps EU over Ukraine gas row

WARSAW Jan 19 (Reuters) - The row between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies has again exposed the European Union's lack of political will to stand up to Moscow, Poland's president said on Monday.

Earlier, Russia and Ukraine signed a 10-year deal clearing the way for the resumption of gas supplies to a freezing Europe, parts of which were cut off for nearly two weeks by a dispute between the ex-Soviet states.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski, a frequent critic of Russia and a strong supporter of Ukraine's bid to join the EU and NATO, made clear he believed Moscow was mainly to blame for the crisis and said the EU's failure to back Kiev sent the wrong signal.

"(The row) proved once more that a country that gets drawn into a dispute with Russia cannot count on any effective help," the state PAP news agency quoted Kaczynski as saying.

"Whether my remarks are received with enthusiasm or not, I want to stress very strongly that this is a slippery slope."

"To whom am I addressing those words? To the authorities and the most important politicians, to those who are leading the biggest countries of this extraordinarily strong union of states, the European Union," said Kaczynski.

The conservative, eurosceptic Kaczynski has often accused the EU, especially its biggest members Germany and France, of ignoring the risks of what he views as Russian "imperialism" under the leadership of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Kaczynski championed Georgia's cause over its brief war with Russia last summer. Last week, he hosted Ukraine's president for talks in which both men blamed Russia for the gas crisis.

Russia cut supplies to Ukraine on Jan. 1 because Kiev would not pay higher prices for its gas. Six days later, export flows to Europe through Ukraine ceased amid Russian accusations Kiev was "stealing" gas intended for export.

Ukraine's pro-Western leaders denied this and accused Moscow of trying to blackmail European customers by halting supplies.

The EU declined to side with either side, though it said the row brought into question the credibility of both countries.

"This very close union of states (the EU), where still two or three states play the leading role, allowed solutions which are hard to see as satisfactory," Kaczynski said, commenting on the weekend deal that some analysts say reinforces Russia's dominant position in European energy. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Gareth Jones; editing by Andrew Roche)