Russia won't help ease energy squeeze until sanctions are lifted

Russia refuses to help ease energy squeeze in Europe until sanctions over Ukraine invasion are lifted

• Moscow announced on Friday that Nord Stream pipeline would not be reopening
• Gas wholesale prices soared by 30 per cent yesterday when the markets opened
• Kremlin: Western sanctions ‘have brought the situation to what we see now’
• Putin spokesperson said Russia is unable to source parts for necessary repairs

Russia last night refused to turn Europe’s gas taps back on until Western sanctions are lifted, stepping up the Kremlin’s weaponisation of energy.

Gas wholesale prices soared by 30 per cent yesterday when the markets opened for the first time since Moscow announced late on Friday that the Nord Stream pipeline would not reopen after three days’ maintenance.

And the Kremlin issued its clearest demand that the UK, the EU and their allies must roll back economic punishment measures before it will restore supplies to normal.

‘Problems with pumping gas came about because of the sanctions Western countries imposed against our country,’ said Vladimir Putin’s chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov. ‘It is these sanctions imposed by Western states that have brought the situation to what we see now,’ he said, arguing Russia is unable to source parts for repairs it now says are needed.

Russian state energy giant Gazprom had blamed the oil leaks in a turbine but the German manufacturer Siemens denied the suggestion that this meant the pipeline needed to be closed. ‘Such leaks do not normally affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site. It is a routine procedure within the scope of maintenance work,’ Siemens said.

Gas wholesale prices soared by 30 per cent yesterday after Moscow announced late on Friday that the Nord Stream pipeline would not reopen after three days’ maintenance

Nord Stream 1 had only been operating at 20 per cent capacity before the shutdown and had been closed for ten days’ ‘maintenance’ in July.

A European Commission white paper, seen by the Daily Mail, says Brussels should impose a cap on Russian gas exports at a level decided on Friday. The document suggests the bloc must not back down even ‘in the event of Russian threats to completely stop the gas supplies’.

Last night, French president Emmanuel Macron called for a 10 per cent cut in his country’s energy use to avoid rationing this winter. ‘The best energy is that which we don’t consume,’ he said.

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