Russia will not fully resume gas supplies to Europe until the West lifts sanctions against Moscow, the Kremlin said, as concerns over Russia’s gas supply continue to push energy prices up.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed sanctions “introduced by Western countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom” for cutting off Russia’s gas supply through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
“There are no other reasons for the delivery problems,” Peskov said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
Peskov added that the full resumption of Russian gas supply via Nord Stream 1 “undoubtedly” depends on the lifting of sanctions against Moscow by the West. “It is these sanctions imposed by Western states that have brought the situation to what we see now.”
Monday’s comments by Peskov are the clearest indication that Russia intends to force the EU to lift sanctions against Moscow thanks to its invasion of Ukraine, in exchange for gas supplies in the coming fall and winter.
Russia’s main energy supplier, Gazprom, announced late Friday that a suspension of gas supply to the west through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would be extended indefinitely, citing “failure” in a turbine along the pipeline.
Gazprom also blamed Western sanctions for disrupting gas supplies, saying maker Siemens could not make repairs to the turbines used in Nord Stream 1 due to sanctions against the Russian state energy company.
The EU rejected Gazprom’s claims and accused Putin of controlling gas exports.
Nord Stream 1 is the largest gas pipeline from Russia to Europe and has a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Continuous supply through the pipeline is seen as crucial to avoiding a deeper energy crisis.
Europe’s energy crisis, caused by lower flows of Russian gas, is seen as an important test of the bloc of 27’s support for Ukraine.
After failing to achieve most of its military objectives in Ukraine, analysts believe the Kremlin hopes record energy prices coupled with possible food shortages this winter will prompt Europe to force Ukraine into a ceasefire on the terms of a truce. Moscow.
Russian officials are keen to point out growing anger in the EU over rising prices, with Peskov saying on Monday it was clear that life was “getting worse for people, businessmen and companies in Europe”.
“Of course, ordinary citizens in these countries will have more and more questions to ask their leaders,” he said.
Source: DN
