Russian gas supplies to Europe will not resume until sanctions against Moscow are lifted, the Kremlin has said.
The Kremlin stated on Monday that Western sanctions were the only reason Russia decided to close the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Moscow initially said it was shutting the pipeline, which supplies gas to Europe, for maintenance.
“[Gas] pumping problems arose because of the sanctions imposed against our country and against a number of companies by Western states, including Germany and the UK,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. “There are no other reasons that could have caused this pumping problem,” he reportedly said.
“Sanctions that prevent the units from being serviced, that prevent them from being moved without appropriate legal guarantees … it is these sanctions imposed by Western states that have brought the situation to what we see now,” Peskov added.
Russia’s state-run energy company, announced on Friday that a three-day maintenance work due to an oil leak in one of the pipeline’s turbines will extend indefinitely.
The European Union responded at Moscow’s move with the European Commission spokesman saying completely halting gas flows was made under “fallacious pretenses”. EU officials have repeatedly accused Moscow of intentionally stemming or reducing the flows in retaliation for Western sanctions and support of Ukraine.
The market immediately responded to Russia’s decision to indefinitely close the Nord Stream 1 with the euro sinking on Monday to the lowest in 20 years (below $0.99). The value of the pound has declined from 0.5 per cent to a new two-and-a-half-year low of $1.1444, as the British economy is also vulnerable to rising gas prices.
