A landmark deal between Turkey and four European Union countries to pipe gas from the Caspian region is a setback for Moscow's own pipeline project to Western Europe, Russian newspapers said Tuesday.
Monday's accord signed between Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey - a milestone in the Nabucco pipeline project much delayed by lack of commitment from gas-exporting nations - is aimed at cutting Russia's gas monopoly in Europe.
About a quarter of the gas consumed in Europe is sourced from Russia.
"A gas alliance against Moscow has been concluded," the mass-circulation Komsomolskaya Pravda said, terming the deal "a blow" to Russia.
The 3,300-kilometer conduit is due to become operational in 2014 at an estimated cost of EUR7.9 billion ($9.8 billion), but there is still lingering uncertainty over who will supply the gas.
It is due to pump billions of cubic meters from the Caspian Sea to Austria via Turkey and the Balkans, bypassing Russia that has been accused of using gas as a weapon by cutting it off in disputes with its neighbors.
Nabucco competes directly with Russia's South Stream project, launched in 2007, which will carry Russian gas through Bulgaria to Western Europe under the Black Sea.
"The EU team is now leading in the game between Nabucco and South Stream," the financial daily Vedomosti said in an editorial.
The Kommersant said: "It is evident that Nabucco will lead ahead of South Stream considerably as it has the backing of almost all of Europe...South Stream cannot boast of such backing."
The official Rossiiskaya Gazeta said: "Experts have for long considered Nabucco as a stillborn project...but now the situation has changed."