After ten days of annual maintenance, this Thursday, July 21, 2022, around 4 a.m. GMT, the supply of Russian gas in this pipeline, which directly connects the Siberian gas fields with northern Germany, should resume, from where the gas then is exported to other European countries.
Minutes after the announced schedule, operator Nord Stream confirmed that it had resumed operations following the success of the maintenance work.
” Developed “, a spokesman for the company Nord Stream told AFP, but without specifying the amount of gas through. The federal government feared that this pipeline would not be reopened by Moscow after this work.
In connection with the war in Ukraine and the energy showdown between Moscow and the West, no script has been written and Europe has been preparing for the fact that the energy company Gazprom, owner of the gas pipeline, will finally turn off the tap or further reduce the flow.
“Russia uses gas as a weapon”on Wednesday again condemned the President of the European Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, by unveiling a contingency plan aimed at cutting European gas demand by 15%.
The Russian giant has already slashed its shipments to Europe since mid-June and even restarting at 40% capacity would not be enough to ensure supplies to individuals and businesses this winter.
According to estimates by the Federal Network Agency, there could be bottlenecks in Germany as early as February if the speed does not increase. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has calculated that stopping Russian gas supplies would reduce the value of German GDP by almost 5 percentage points between 2022 and 2024.
Nord Stream transports around a third of the 153 billion m3 of gas that the EU buys annually.
However, Vladimir Putin suggested this week that the gas pipeline could only operate at 20% of its capacity from next week.
The fault, according to the Russian president, lies with the turbines equipping the pipeline, which Russia has turned into a new leverage on the West.
Gazprom’s gas supply decisions were judged from the start “Politics” the federal government, which repeatedly accuses Russia of causing turbine problems such as “Pretext”.
Kyiv calls for support
Russia has made no secret of its desire to invade Ukraine and on Wednesday July 20 announced that it had expanded its objectives. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia’s goals are no longer limited to eastern Ukraine alone, but also include“other areas” and could still expand.
“It’s no longer just the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (two separatist territories in eastern Ukraine, editor’s note), but also the Kherson and Zaporijia regions (in the south, editor’s note) and a number of other territories and this process continues continuously.”Lavrov told the Ria-Novosti news agency and the RT TV channel.
Mr Lavrov also said that talks with Kyiv would not be held “No sense in the current situation”considering that previous contacts “only showed a lack of will on the part of the Ukrainian side to discuss anything seriously”.
Ukraine responded to the Russian announcement by calling for more weapons and additional sanctions against Moscow. “The Russians want blood, not negotiations. I call on all partners to tighten sanctions against Russia and speed up arms supplies to Ukraine.”wrote the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba.
For her part, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska, who was visiting the United States, made a startling plea to the US Congress: “I ask you for more weapons […] to protect everyone’s homes and the right to wake up alive in those homes.”she started.
war in Ukraine. Nord Stream restart, Zelensky calls for guns… the dot in the nightGRANDIR chevron_gauchechevron_droite