Europe has been thrown into its biggest energy crisis in decades with natural gas supplies from Russia becoming volatile and unpredictable even before the invasion of Ukranian Supplies have stopped.
Russia claims that economic sanctions imposed on it by the west are to blame for the halt in gas supplies.
According to Russian state news agency Interfax, the Kremlin spokesman said that there were problems in pumping because of the sanctions imposed against Russia.
If the sanctions were to be relaxed, the supplies of gas viaNord Stream 1 would resume. There are sanctions that prevent the maintenance of units, which prevent them from moving without legal guarantees, and so on.
The situation we see now was brought about by the Western states' introduction of sanctions.
This is the clearest indication yet that Russia is trying to get Europe to lift its economic sanctions in order to allow the taps to be turned back on.
Russia, traditionally its largest energy supplier, has been accused of weaponizing energy exports in an attempt to drive up commodity prices. Moscow does not use energy as a tool.
Russia's state-owned energy giant halted all exports from August 31 due to maintenance work on its only remaining compressor.
After three days, flows were due to resume, but an oil leak forced the shut down of the line. The G-7 economic powers backed a proposal to put a price-capping mechanism on Russian oil.
The Kremlin has said that the restart of gas supplies to Europe is dependent on the lifting of sanctions against Moscow.
European gas prices jumped Monday, with many fearing that Europe could be forced to ration energy through the winter, because of the halt in supplies via theNord Stream 1 line. There is a chance of a recession in the region.
The deputy CEO of the Russian gas company said on Tuesday that the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 line would not continue until Germany'sSiemens Energy repaired faulty equipment.
When contacted by CNBC on Tuesday, the company was silent.
According to the company, it is not currently working on the turbine with the suspected oil leak, but is ready to do so in the future.
The information provided to us over the weekend cannot be comprehended by the company.
Gazprom’s Deputy CEO Vitaly Markelov told Reuters on Tuesday that gas flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would not continue until Germany’s Siemens Energy repairs faulty equipmentThe founder of the Moral Rating Agency, a research organization focused on foreign firms in Russia, said that it was another example of a state lie from the Russians.
Russia lied its way into the invasion. Make no mistake, gasprom is Russia. It has no choice but to lie to the Russians.
Russia has dramatically reduced gas supplies to Europe in the last few months, with only 20% of the agreed-upon volume flowing via the pipe.
Russia's move to cut gas supply to the EU just as the region scrambles to fill its inventories ahead of winter is a further escalation of its policy of the past months to impose economic pain through repeated supply cuts to Germany, the EU's biggest economy and gas consumer," analysts wrote
According to sources in Berlin, they are making all winter energy plans assuming no supply from Russia. There will now be a focus on central and southern Europe, which still gets Russian gas.
European policymakers are racing to secure gas supplies in underground facilities in order to have enough fuel to keep homes warm during the cold months
It was already likely to be an extremely challenging winter due to Russia suspending gas flows via Europe.
Power spot prices across Western Europe have climbed to "unparalleled levels" as the European energy sector continues to be shocked by price volatility.
They said that the latest move has increased the risk that Europe won't get more gas flows in the winter.
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