Russia Stops Gas Flow to Europe through Nord Stream 1

Russia has topped the gas flow through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe, citing the need to conduct repairs. This comes as a move that has already increased nervousness over the reliability of winter energy supplies.

Gazprom, a Russian energy company, said that this halt on the pipeline of Baltic Sea will last for three days. It had also warned that the outage was due, but the government of Germany said it had not been formally told, and was receiving the information instead through social media.

The flow of gas had been decreased to 40 percent of the expected levels. In July 2022, the flow of gas was stopped for the scheduled maintenance and has resumed again after 10 daysbut at a capacity of 20 percent, and Russia blaming the failure of Germany to return the vital equipment because of the sanctions imposed on Russia.

While invading Ukraine, Russia has stopped the gas supply to Bulgaria, Finland, Denmark, Poland, and the Netherlands completely, and decreased the flows through the other pipelines in Europe.

Russia has also accused the government of Germany of doing everything it can to destroy its energy relations with Russia. Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Germany’s foreign ministry, said Germany was to blame for attempting to affect the energy bond between Russia and Germany.