IT IS getting chilly in Kiev. During parliamentary elections on October 26th, as temperatures hit 7° Celsius, polling-station officials huddled in padded coats; one warmed her hand over an electric heater while handing out ballots with the other. President Petro Poroshenko had promised to turn the country's radiators back on, but according to energy company figures, 60% of Kiev's buildings remained without heat. So Friday morning's news from Brussels came as a relief: Russia and Ukraine had agreed a deal to resume deliveries of gas, cut off since June over a payment dispute. The agreement removes the risk that Ukraine might run out of gas supplies this winter. But with the two countries still fighting what amounts to a proxy war in Ukraine's east, it is not clear how long the deal will hold.
