Russia has started feeding natural gas into a Baltic Sea pipeline that will deliver supplies to western Europe, while bypassing traditional transit routes in Ukraine.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended a special ceremony Tuesday to mark the launch of the pipeline in the city of Vyborg in northwestern Russia.The pipeline, known as Nord Stream, connects Vyborg to the German port town of Greifswald but bypasses Ukraine.Meanwhile, Ukraine says it is prepared to take Russia to discount timberland boots court to prove it violated accords in a worsening gas dispute between the two countries.Ukrainian officials are threatening to file an international arbitration suit against Russia's state-run energy company Gazprom, saying Ukraine is overpaying Russia by billions of dollars for imports from Gazprom.There have been many price disputes between Moscow and Kyiv about natural gas deliveries to Ukraine, whose pipelines serve other European nations.

In 2009, a disagreement between the two nations cut natural gas supplies to Western Europe during mens timberland roll top boots the cold winter months, leaving many without heat. Nord Stream is a twin pipeline system. The first line can deliver about 27 billion cubic meters of gas per year.The U.N. Security Council has endorsed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a second five-year term as U.N. chief. The South Korean diplomat faces no other candidates and is likely to sail to reappointment in the U.N. General Assembly next week.The U.N.s most powerful organ held closed door consultations on Bans reappointment Thursday and then endorsed his second term Friday by acclamation in another private meeting. Had any of the five permanent members of the council vetoed recommending Ban's reappointment he would not have been eligible for another term.

After the meeting, the president of the U.N. Security Council for June, Gabonese Ambassador Nelson Messone, timberland boots outlet read a communiqu from the 15-member council."The Security Council, having considered the question of the recommendation for the appointment of the secretary-general of the United Nations, recommends to the General Assembly that Mr. Ban Ki-moon be appointed secretary-general of the United Nations for a second term of office from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2016, he said.Speaking from the capital of Brazil, where he is on a Latin American tour, Ban said he was "deeply honored" by the Security Council's vote.On Tuesday, the 192-member General Assembly is expected to reconfirm Ban in a resolution also to be adopted by acclamation.Under the U.N. Charter, the post of secretary-general is rotated regionally and is currently held by Asia.