The deal struck betweenUkrainian President Viktor Yanukovychand his Russian counterpart DmitryMedvedev on a new gas contract and alonger lease of a Russian naval base inthe Black Sea port of Sevastopolreinvigorates the relationship between the two countrieswhose past disputes on gas contractsdisrupted the energy supply toEuropean countries. Implemented byboth the Ukrainian and Russian parliament,the agreement increases Russia’sinfluence in the former Soviet republicand also implicates a significant shiftfrom a former pro-west orientedUkraine towards Russia.