Putin’s gas war on Europe direct continuation of war on Ukraine - Kuleba

An ongoing “gas war” waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Europe is nothing but a continuation of his war against Ukraine.

That’s according to Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, who addressed the issue on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

“Putin’s gas war against Europe is a direct continuation of his war on Ukraine. Wherever he can bring harm, he will. He will use every dependence Europe has on Russia to ruin the normal life of every European family. The only way is to hit back hard and get rid of any dependence,” Kuleba tweeted.

As reported earlier, Russian energy monopoly Gazprom said, it would stop another turbine on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline, thus reducing the pressure of gas flow to 33 million cubic meters per day. Speaking of the reason behind the move, Gazprom cited repair needs.

As reported earlier, Canada decided to return to Germany another gas turbine repaired in Canada by Siemens Energy AG, which was used in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline system. The decision was made despite objections from the government of Ukraine and the large Ukrainian diaspora in Canada, who stressed that returning the equipment would undermine sanctions imposed on Russia.

Canada's Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said that the temporary export permit was granted after lengthy discussions with European allies, as well as the International Energy Agency.

In turn, Germany’s top diplomat Annalena Baerbock admitted her government had warned Ottawa that Berlin could be forced to suspend military and economic aid to Kyiv if a Russian gas pipeline turbine stranded in Canada, was not returned. The missing turbine, Germany argued, could lead to a stoppage of Russian gas supplies to Germany, which could spark “popular uprisings.” 

Despite Canada's decision to return the turbine, Russia never stopped its gas blackmail targeting Europe, curbing the gas flow anyway.