Russia has postponed the reopening of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, scheduled for Saturday, after claiming to have discovered a fault during maintenance, deepening Europe’s difficulties in securing fuel for the winter. The structure is one of the main supply routes to Europe.
Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea to supply Germany and others, was due to resume operation after a three-day maintenance stoppage, but Gazprom, the state-owned company with a monopoly on Russia’s gas exports via pipeline, said on Tuesday. Friday (2) that it could no longer provide a deadline for restarting deliveries after finding an oil leak that would compromise the safety of the operation.
Moscow has blamed sanctions, imposed by the West after Russia invaded Ukraine, for hampering routine operations and maintenance of Nord Stream 1. Brussels says this is a pretext and Russia is using gas as an economic weapon to retaliate.
European Union Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc must impose a price cap on Russian pipeline gas to thwart what she said were Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to manipulate the market.
*in update
Source: CNN Brasil
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