Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Canada on Wednesday of delaying the return of a German turbine from the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, repaired on its soil, in the hope of selling its own hydrocarbons to Europe. The fate of this Siemens turbine, presented by Moscow as essential for the proper functioning of Nord Stream 1, a gas pipeline that supplies Germany and Europe with Russian gas, has sown uncertainty about the future of deliveries by Russia.
Canada, where it had been sent for repairs at a German group factory, returned the turbine to Germany, after hesitating over sanctions targeting Moscow for its offensive in Ukraine. But the time of its delivery to Russia is uncertain.
“A machine had to be repaired. Canada did not return it due to its sanctions against Gazprom, although (the repairs were carried out) in a Siemens factory,” Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying by the Tass news agency. “I’ll tell you why Canada did this. It’s because it also produces oil and gas and plans to enter the European market,” he added.
“Pretext”
The Nord Stream pipeline is currently closed for ten-day maintenance that will normally end on Thursday. European countries fear, however, that Moscow will take a technical reason as a pretext for not resuming its deliveries, and thus put pressure on them in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. Before the closure of Nord Stream 1, Russia had already reduced deliveries considerably in recent weeks, justifying them by the lack of Siemens turbines.
Germany on Wednesday called the argument a “pretext” and the European Union accused Moscow of using the gas “as a weapon.” These difficulties around deliveries via Nord Stream 1 come at a time when European countries are trying to fill up their gas reserves for the winter. In this context, European countries are trying to diversify their gas supplies, turning in particular to the United States, Qatar, Azerbaijan and other countries.
Source: BFM TV
