Ukraine accuses Russia of "gas blackmail"
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of waging a "gas war" against Europe, describing the latest move to further curtail supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline as "gas blackmail."
Already running at only 40% of its 55bn m3/year capacity, Nord Stream is set to reduce supplies again on the morning of July 27 to only 33mn m3/day, or just above 20% of its capacity, Gazprom announced on July 25.
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"The gas blackmail of Europe, which only gets worse every month, is needed by a terrorist state to make the life of every European worse," Zelensky said in his nightly address on July 25.
He said the move was deliberately aimed at making it harder for Europe to stock up on gas in preparation for winter, without any care to the poverty this will inflict on people during the colder months.
Ukraine's gas grid operator GTSOU echoed this sentiment, posting on social media on July 26 that Russia was not a reliable gas supplier, and Nord Stream was not a reliable transit route.
"On the other hand, Russia's reliability is nearly 100% when it comes to blackmail, manufacturing of crisis, and making up excuses for Nord Stream – why it is indispensable and why it doesn't work," the operator said on Twitter.
For its part, Gazprom has said the latest reduction is due to the shutdown of a Siemens turbine at the Portovaya compressor station on Russia's Baltic coast. Another Siemens turbine is on route back to Russia after undergoing repairs in Canada, but is currently stuck in Germany, with Gazprom claiming there are outstanding issues with documentation to allow its return to Russia.