Russia is able to guarantee Europe's energy security at a reasonable cost to its citizens, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
His comments follow accusations that Moscow has been using its gas supplies to exert political pressure on the continent, after Gazprom reduced gas flow to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by 60% last month.
“We completely reject any hint or direct statement that Russia is using gas or oil as a weapon of political pressure. This is not the case. Russia is consistently fulfilling all its obligations, and Russia is still capable of guaranteeing Europe’s full energy security. Russia is able to guarantee that taxpayers in European countries will not get the off-the-scale electricity and heating bills like those they receive now,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
Earlier, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck reportedly pleaded with Canada to return a crucial turbine for the Nord Stream pipeline that had been sent to Montreal for repairs and has been stuck there due to sanctions against Russia. Gazprom cited the issue as the reason for reducing gas flow to Germany. It was reported on Friday that the German cabinet had received ‘good signals’ from Canada regarding the return of the equipment.
As a result of the reduced gas supply, Berlin was forced to trigger its energy emergency plan last month. While the country’s government hopes to replace Russian gas with LNG, German media has reported that the plan will not work because not enough tankers are available to ship it, adding the country could face severe gas shortages this winter.
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