Prague  - The European Union is to avoid involvement in a Russian-Ukrainian row over gas supplies as long as Russian gas keeps flowing to the 27-member bloc, an EU official said Thursday.

Speaking on Czech Television, the new EU head, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, said that the EU was reluctant to broker the bilateral gas dispute that threatens union's gas supplies.

"It is pretty much a Russian-Ukrainian dispute and it has to be solved as such," Topolanek said.

"We will appeal on both parties to reach an agreement as it is not advisable to get involved in the conflict because no one is fully familiar with those contracts," he said.

Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom said on Thursday it had shut down gas deliveries to Ukraine in a move that followed a collapse in bilateral talks on a new gas supply contract and payments of outstanding debt.

Topolanek said that the EU, whose members largely rely on Russian gas, would step in only after a drop in pipeline gas pressure on the EU's eastern border with Ukraine.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose country is the EU member neighbouring Ukraine, told Czech Television that the shutdown has so far not influenced the deliveries to the EU.

"We are so far handling the situation well and are not worried that it should cause some difficulties," he said.

The European Commission and the Czech EU presidency urged Russia and Ukraine in a joint statement earlier on Thursday to return to the negotiating table and reach a gas deal so "that gas supplies to the EU are not affected."

"The EU trusts that we can count upon assurances given that gas supplies to the EU will be unaffected, as a demonstration of the reliability of its gas suppliers," European Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs said in the statement.

The Czech Republic replaced France at the EU helm on Thursday and will chair the bloc until handing over the EU rotating presidency to Sweden on July 1.

The central European country of 10 million faced a major test from the very moment its EU presidency began owing to the Russian-Ukrainian gas conflict as well as to the Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. (dpa)