German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said yesterday that the reductions in Russian gas deliveries to Europe via Nord Stream are an “attack” aimed at “sowing chaos in the European energy market”.
“What we saw last week has another dimension. The reduction in gas deliveries via Nord Stream is an attack” aimed at us, he said in a speech to industry officials in Berlin.
According to the German official, this “economic attack” was “deliberately carried out” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We have already seen this way of acting several times, with the reduction of gas deliveries, in Bulgaria, Poland or Denmark”, he added, considering that it is about “sowing chaos in the European energy market”, “increasing prices”.
Russian group Gazprom cut deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline this week by 40%, then by 33%, citing a technical issue.
Russian company Gazprom announced on June 15 that it will cut gas deliveries to Europe by more than a third via the Nord Stream pipeline after equipment problems.
Berlin had already classified this cut as a “political decision” by Moscow, given the sanctions of Western countries in the face of the invasion of Ukraine.
Nord Stream transports Russian gas to Germany across the Baltic Sea and was to be complemented by Nord Stream 2, ‘frozen’ by the German government in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
