Western sanctions are the cause of the stoppage of Russian gas supplies, according to the Kremlin
The Kremlin assured on Monday that the stoppage of Russian gas deliveries to Germany via the strategic Nord Stream gas pipeline was the sole fault of the West, because their sanctions prevent the maintenance of gas infrastructure. “The pumping problems [de gaz] emerged because of Western state sanctions. There is no other reason for these problems”said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The Kremlin spokesman also “categorically rejected” them “relentless attempts” Westerners from “reject responsibility and blame” on Moscow. “The West – in this case the European Union, Canada and the United Kingdom – is responsible for the fact that the situation has reached such a point”he added.
The Russian giant Gazprom announcedFriday evening, that the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which was to resume service on Saturday after maintenance, would finally be ” completely “ stopped until the repair of a turbine of this vital pipeline for the supply of Europeans.
Monday morning, the price of natural gas exploded, after the announcement of the complete shutdown of the gas pipeline. Around 11 a.m. (Paris time), the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) futures contract, the European market reference, was trading at 278.5 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), soaring by nearly 30%, i.e. its largest single-session rise since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.