Russia has stopped supplying natural gas to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and said
that flows will not resume to the continent until economic sanctions against Moscow over its
invasion of Ukraine are lifted.
Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official spokesperson, blamed sanctions
imposed by the European Union, England and Canada for the halt in natural gas supplies to
Europe via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline that runs to Germany from St. Petersburg.
Peskov’s comments were the starkest demand yet by the Kremlin that it wants economic
sanctions removed in exchange for Russia resuming gas deliveries to Europe.
European leaders have accused the Russian government of “weaponizing” its energy exports to
retaliate against the western sanctions that were imposed after the Russian military invaded
Ukraine this past February.
Gazprom, Russia’s state-run gas giant, said late last week that 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.
The announcement came just hours after G7 leading industrialized nations announced a price
cap on Russian oil exports. The price cap aims to stop Moscow from funding its war machine through energy exports.
Russia has offset much of the economic damage from the sanctions through oil and gas
revenues, which are benefiting from the sky-high energy prices.
Higher natural gas supplies from Norway, England, Africa, and increased imports of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) from Canada have helped to offset the loss of Russian supplies, which had
made up about 40% of European consumption.
The Euro currency fell to a 20-year low against the U.S. dollar on news that the gas supplies to
Europe have been halted indefinitely.
