Russia on Sunday defended itself against criticism from the European Union for cutting off supply through the Nord Stream pipeline, saying it was the result of Western sanctions and actions and warning that gas prices could rise further.
In the program “Moscovo.Kremlin.Putin” of the Rossia-1 public television channel, Dmitri Peskov even blamed the European client countries of Gazprom for the decision to suspend it. “If the Europeans make an absolutely absurd decision to refuse to repair their equipment, or rather equipment that belongs to Gazprom, but, according to the contract, must be repaired, it is not Gazprom’s fault, it is the fault of the politicians who made the decision. on sanctions,” the Kremlin spokesman added.
Peskov emphasized that “it is these unhappy politicians who are now forcing their citizens to die of strokes when they see electricity bills.” “And now, when it gets colder, the situation will get even worse,” he predicted.
In the same television program, Peskov and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, responsible for energy issues, assured that the Russian company Gazprom is not guilty. “Gazprom has earned its reputation as a reliable guarantor of energy security and a reliable supplier for many decades. And we are convinced that Gazprom has not taken a single step to undermine that reputation,” Peskov said.
The Russian gas consortium announced on Friday that it would completely suspend the flow of gas to Europe via Germany due to an oil leak found in a turbine of the only compressor unit that was still in operation, something that the European Union (EU) described as a “fallacy” and pointed to it as further proof that Russia is not a reliable supplier.
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Peskov emphasized that “it is these unhappy politicians who are now forcing their citizens to die of strokes when they see electricity bills.”
“And now, when it gets colder, the situation will get even worse,” he predicted.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak expressed himself in similar terms, stating that “all the conditions of the repair contract have been completely violated” and “the conditions of transport of this equipment have been violated”.
“Both Canada and the European Union have imposed sanctions on major teams, so they must align [as suas ações] with the terms of the contract so that this team really continues to function,” he said.
One of the turbines repaired by Siemens at its Canadian facility has been able to be returned to Germany despite sanctions, but has not yet reached Russia because Moscow requires legal guarantees that the equipment is not subject to restrictions.
Novak, like Peskov, did not rule out further rises in the price of gas in Europe due to the “myopic” policies of the EU which, in his opinion, lead to the collapse of the energy market in the Old Continent.
“Myopic policy leads to the situation we are seeing of a collapse in Europe’s energy markets. And that is not the limit, because we are still in the hot season, we still have winter ahead of us and there are many unforeseen events”, he warned.
When asked if there could be a new increase in the price of gas, Novak replied: “In my opinion, it is possible.”
However, former Russian President and Vice President of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also referred to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s remarks that Russia is no longer a reliable supplier of energy.
In his Telegram account, he stated that Germany is “a hostile country, has imposed sanctions against the entire Russian economy and its citizens and provides Ukraine with lethal weapons directed against the Russian Armed Forces.”
Source: Observadora
