EU expects state of emergency – Putin threatens to further cut gas supplies

With his statements, Putin apparently wants to force the commissioning of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline. “We still have a completed route – that’s Nord Stream 2. We can put it into operation,” he said. The gas pipeline, which was already highly controversial in Ukraine before the war, was completed in 2021. After the invasion, Germany suspended the permitting process to operate the line. In view of the energy crisis, Putin had previously stated that deliveries via Nord Stream 2 could lower the price level again and alleviate the situation in general.

Scholz: Turbine is an advanced reason
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was commissioned in 2011, is the main gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. However, since June, Russian state energy giant Gazprom has cut gas supplies by more than half the daily maximum to 67 million cubic meters. This was justified with Siemens Energy’s missing turbine, which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) criticized as a pretext. The pipeline, which is more than 1,200 kilometers long, is currently – as planned – completely shut down for annual maintenance until Thursday.

If Russia does not get the repaired turbine back, the pipeline’s daily throughput capacity risks falling further to 33 million cubic meters per day by the end of July due to the need for “one more unit” repair, Putin said. He spoke on the sidelines of a top-level meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran. After Moscow invaded Ukraine, Moscow gradually cut off gas in several European countries. Critics therefore also classified the justification for the supply restriction with the missing turbine as a pretext.

The turbine repaired in Canada was held back for a long time due to Western sanctions and was not returned to Russia. However, at Berlin’s request, the Canadian government has finally decided to transfer the turbine to Germany so that it can be reinstalled. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Berlin, this is intended to give Russia an excuse to permanently stop or continue to curb gas supplies.

Apparently that doesn’t work: Moscow said neither the machine nor the accompanying documents had arrived. In addition, Putin’s statements in Tehran suggest that even after maintenance work is completed and even if the turbine is installed, the pipeline may not be restored to full capacity.

“Assuming the Worst”
Russia has long had a reputation for leveraging its energy supplies. It is precisely against this background that the European Commission will present an emergency plan on Wednesday on how Europe can prepare for an impending gas shortage in the winter. “We are assuming the worst-case scenario in our winter preparation plans,” a European Commission spokesman said on Tuesday. It is expected that the Brussels plan lays down, among other things, that public buildings, offices and commercial buildings must be heated to a maximum of 19 degrees from the autumn and that mandatory gas-saving targets may be set.

In the debate on the blockade of Ukrainian grain exports in Tehran, Putin called for the lifting of Western sanctions on Russian grain exports: “We will facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain, but we assume that all restrictions on air cargo deliveries for the export of Russian grain,” he said.

No sanctions against grain shipments
Western states accuse Russia of deliberately restricting the export of Ukrainian and Russian grain. Moscow, on the other hand, blames Western sanctions for a lack of exports and rising food prices worldwide. However, the EU and other countries have repeatedly emphasized that food shipments from Russia are not subject to their sanctions.