Gas supplies to Europe through the critical Nord Stream 1 pipeline will remain suspended until the West lifts its sanctions against Russia and Russian companies, the Kremlin said Monday, heightening a stand-off between Russia and the continent as energy prices soar in the region.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov blamed sanctions as the reason behind maintenance issues that have triggered the pipeline’s closure in recent weeks, state-run news agency Interfax reported—Nord Stream 1 is the main gas pipeline connecting Russia and western Europe..
When asked if the gas supplies would resume if the West lifted its sanctions, Peskov said “of course,” claiming that those curbs have “brought the situation to what we see now.”
Peskov said the current shutdown was forced by the malfunctioning of the last operational unit of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, as all the others had stopped working earlier due to maintenance problems.
The delivery of gas through the key pipeline is not expected to resume in the “foreseeable future,” Russian business newspaper Kommersant reported, citing unnamed sources.
Prior to its invasion of Ukraine, Russian gas accounted for more than 40% of all gas imports into Europe.
81.55%. That is the current level at which the European Union’s gas storage capacity is filled, slightly above the bloc’s target of having 80% gas reserves available by November 1. It is unclear how Nord Stream 1’s indefinite shutdown will impact these reserves and if the EU will have to tap into them immediately and risk pushing levels below 80% ahead of November 1.
Concerns about energy supply have weighed heavily on the Euro, which dropped below $0.99 for the first time in 20 years on Monday. European gas prices climbed to a high of €282 ($280) per megawatt hour on Monday and analysts warn they may hit record highs later this week.
TYLER DURDEN
... on Monday Russia finally admitted what everyone has known since February - namely that it has weaponized commodities in response to the West's weaponization of currencies (as Zoltan Pozsar has said all along),when the Kremlin said that Russia’s gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will not resume in full until the “collective west” lifts sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, blamed EU, UK, and Canadian sanctions for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the key pipeline, which delivers gas to Germany from St Petersburg via the Baltic sea.
“The problems pumping gas came about because of the sanctions western countries introduced against our country and several companies,” Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. “There are no other reasons that could have caused this pumping problem.”
Peskov’s comments were the most stark demand yet by the Kremlin that the EU roll back its sanctions in exchange for Russia resuming gas deliveries to the continent. It also confirms that Russia no longer needs to pretend it needs to export commodities to Europe - after all it has more than enough demand in China and India - and is willing to give Europe just enough to rope to... well, you know the rest.
On Friday, Gazprom said it would halt gas supplies through Nord Stream 1 because of a technical fault, which it blamed on difficulties repairing German-made turbines in Canada. We now know that was a strawman; and in the latest confirmation of who has the upper hand in the ongoing commodity feud, the EU had already rolled back some sanctions against Russia explicitly to allow the turbines to be repaired. European leaders have said there is nothing to prevent Gazprom from supplying the continent with gas and had accused Russia of “weaponising” its energy exports.
Meanwhile, as we reported over the weekend, Russia is still supplying gas to Europe via Soviet-era pipelines through Ukraine that have remained open despite the invasion, as well as the South Stream pipeline via Turkey. And in an ironic twist, the head of the Ukraine gas transit operator told Reuters that Ukraine could "technically" substitute full capacity of Nord Stream 1 via Ukraine's Sudzha entry point. In other words, Europe would pay Putin billions for Russian gas transiting through Ukraine with Russia using proceeds to fight Ukraine...
Of course, nothing in today's "news" should come as a surprise: Russian officials have made little secret of their hope that the growing energy crisis in Europe will sap the bloc’s support for Ukraine. “Obviously life is getting worse for people, businessmen, and companies in Europe,” Peskov said. “Of course, ordinary people in these countries will have more and more questions for their leaders.”One not so ordinary person was Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy's far-right League party, who said that Western sanctions against Russia are not working and actually harm Italy, and suggesting allied countries should reconsider their approach. Speaking at a conference of political leaders Sunday on Lake Como, Salvini claimed the sanctions meant to punish Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine had in fact helped Russia, resulting in an export surplus of $140 billion, during the year ending July 2022. "Do we have to defend Ukraine? Yes," Salvini said. "But I would not want the sanctions to harm those who impose them more than those who are hit by them."
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev was even more explicit than Peskov, and after German chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a €65bn aid package on Sunday to soften the blow of soaring energy bills, Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia’s security council, said Germany was “acting as an enemy of Russia” by supporting sanctions against Moscow and supplying Ukraine with weapons. “They have declared hybrid war against Russia,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram. “And this old man acts surprised that the Germans have some little problems with gas.”
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