Media: Germany and Canada are prepared to circumvent sanctions to restore Russia’s gas supplies to Europe
Germany has convinced Canada to bypass sanctions to help Berlin fix the gas issue involving Russian gas giant Gazprom. Ottawa intends to return Siemens gas turbines to Gazprom, so that Russia has no excuses in restoring gas supplies through Nord Stream. Ukrainian authorities are outraged by the decision of Canada and Germany and intend to fight for it to be cancelled, reported Evropeyska Pravda, citing its sources.
The Ukrainian side insists that if Canada returns the turbine to Russia, then this will be the first case when two countries violate their own sanctions at once.
"If, God forbid, this decision is approved, we will undoubtedly appeal to our European colleagues with a request to reconsider their approach. Because if the countries do not comply with the decisions on sanctions they imposed themselves, what kind of solidarity can we talk about?" a source close to the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy told Ukrainska Pravda.
Evropeyska Pravda notes that the formal reason for lifting sanctions will be the argument of the German side that returning this turbine to Gazprom will stabilize gas supplies to Germany. Reuters, citing a source close to the Canadian government, claims that the decision has already been made. The source noted that neither Canada nor Germany wants Russia to be able to use the turbines to blackmail the entire Europe.
The Ukrainian side insists that Canada and Germany should not go ahead with shipping the turbine to Gazprom, since Russia has every opportunity to increase the necessary volumes of gas to Europe right now. A source at the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy claims that Gazprom has seven of its own turbines. In addition, Gazprom can increase supplies along other routes, but deliberately does not do this.
"If the decision to transfer the turbine is made by the Canadians, regardless of who gets the turbine Gazprom or Germany, this will be a precedent when the sanctions are circumvented by two G7 countries," the source in the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy said.
Gazprom reduced the volume of gas supply through Nord Stream to 40% saying that it was because it didn’t get the turbine it needs from Germany. At the moment, there is a shortage of gas at the European gas market, which caused a sharp increase in energy prices. Gas prices approached $ 2,000 per thousand cubic meters. Nord Stream remains Europe's main gas pipeline from Russia, and the lack of stable supplies increases the risks for the heating season.