Russia threatens to cut off gas supply to Europe

International Desk, Mar 8 (EFE).- Russia threatened to take action, including cutting off gas supply to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, if sanctions are imposed on its oil exports.

“Europe consumes about 500 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Russia provides 40 percent of that,” Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement late Monday, according to official Interfax agency.

He underlined that for decades, Russia had been a reliable partner, and had always fulfilled its contractual commitments and obligations to deliver gas to Europe.

“Given that, as well as the baseless accusations against Russia (…) we know we are fully entitled to take a ‘mirror’ decision and place an embargo on gas transit via Nord Stream 1 which is presently running at 100 percent capacity,” Novak warned.

However, the minister stressed that the decision had not yet been taken and said that with mutual sanctions would “have no winners,” even though European politicians “continue to push us toward it.”

“Regrettably, we have seen the statement by European politicians on energy issues and calls to dump Russian oil and gas. European officials are once again trying to shift the problems and failures of their own energy policy of recent years onto Russia,” he said.

Novak added that as a result, the energy prices had increased and that that Russia had nothing to do with the current price spike and volatility in the market.

Currently, Russia ships about 60 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced halting the certification of the planned North Stream 2 gas pipeline to supply Russian natural gas directly to Germany. EFE

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