Russia has halted gas supplies via Europe’s key supply route, intensifying an economic battle between Moscow and Brussels, and raising the prospects of recession and energy rationing in some of the region’s richest countries, Reuters reports.
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European governments fear Russia could extend the gas outage in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed after it invaded Ukraine and have accused Russia of using energy supplies as a “weapon of war”. Moscow denies doing this and has cited technical reasons for supply cuts.
Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom said Nord Stream 1—the biggest pipeline carrying gas to its top customer Germany—would be out for maintenance until September 3.
The president of the German network regulator said that Germany would be able to cope with the three-day outage as long as flows resumed on Saturday.
“I assume that we will be able to cope with it,” Klaus Mueller told Reuters.
“I trust that Russia will return to at least 20% from Saturday, but no one can really say.”
Further restrictions to European gas supplies would deepen an energy crunch that has already triggered a 400% surge in wholesale gas prices since last August, squeezing consumers and businesses and forcing governments to spend billions to ease the burden.
In Germany, inflation soared to its highest in almost 50 years in August and consumer sentiment soured as households brace for a spike in energy bills.
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Moscow, which slashed supply via the pipeline to 40% of capacity in June and to 20% in July, blames maintenance issues and sanctions it says prevent the return and installation of equipment.
