<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655476613091,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07af-d172-a563-4fefeeac0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655476613091,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07af-d172-a563-4fefeeac0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55396539", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1034104"} }); ","_id":"00000181-7218-dd13-a9fb-7a3e6a4c0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedRussia cut the natural gas supply to Italy and Germany on Friday following the European Commission’s recommendation of Ukraine as a candidate for membership in the European Union.
The cutoffs will increase the pressure on the Biden administration to deliver on its goals of increasing alternative supplies to Europe.
OIL TRADE GROUPS REBUT BIDEN REFINERY CLAIMS AND NOTE ‘WORLD-LEADING’ CAPACITY
Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom told Italian supplier Eni on Friday that it would slash its delivery by 50%, just two days after it announced a 15% reduction.
Meanwhile, France said Gazprom has completely suspended supply to Germany, Russia’s largest gas buyer in the EU.
The twin cuts come just one day after leaders from Italy and Germany, whose countries are the EU’s largest buyers of Russian gas, traveled to Ukraine on Thursday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and signal their support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion.
Italy is the second largest consumer of Russian gas, just behind Germany, and both countries agreed to comply with Moscow’s demands earlier this year to pay for their gas supplies in rubles.
The halt caught officials off guard, Italy said, noting that Gazprom had declined to provide a reason for its reduction.
In slashing its gas flow to Germany, Gazprom cited technical problems with an entry point along the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
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German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck dismissed Russia’s claim that technical problems with Nord Stream 1 were to blame for its abrupt reduction of supplies.
Berlin has established, in consultation with the European Commission, that Nord Stream 1 maintenance problems are not to blame for the cutoff, Habeck said. The 60% increase “shows [Russia’s] justification is simply a pretext — & is obviously a strategy to unsettle and drive up prices,” he said.
