The unexpected, severe reduction in gas supplies to Europe announced by Russia’s state-owned gas business on Monday prompted Ukraine to demand action from the West on the “gas war.”
The gas cuts coincided with guarded optimism that this week’s resumed exports of Ukraine’s grain under a ground-breaking agreement would be possible despite Moscow’s strike on the vital port of Odessa.
The Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it would reduce daily gas deliveries to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline to 33 million cubic metres per day, or roughly 20% of the pipeline’s capacity.
Due to the “technical condition of the engine,” the business stated that it was ceasing operation of one of the final two working turbines.
Germany, which is highly dependent on Russian gas but has sought to progressively wean itself off since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, claimed there was no technical rationale for the shutdown.
The German company Siemens Energy, which is in charge of maintaining the turbine, also told AFP that it didn’t believe there was any connection between the turbine and the recently announced or imposed gas cuts.
The cuts, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, demonstrate why Europe should tighten its sanctions against Russia.
“Russia is waging an open gas war against an unified Europe,”
said Zelensky.
They don’t care how the people suffer, whether it’s from starvation brought on by closed ports, from the cold and hardship of the winter, or from the occupation. These are simply several types of horror.
In his daily video message, he said.
“For that reason, you must strike back. Instead of considering how to bring the turbine back, consider strengthening the punishment.
said he.
The German government and Ukraine both acknowledged receiving the first of 15 Gepard anti-aircraft systems and tens of thousands of munitions on the same day as the Russian statement.
anticipation of grain shipments
With the signature of a deal mediated by Turkey and the United Nations to free over 25 million tonnes of wheat and other food that had been imprisoned in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, Russia and Ukraine reached their most major accord since the beginning of the war.
The discovery boosted expectations for reducing a rise in food prices globally, which has disproportionately impacted developing countries. Moscow attacked the port in Odessa, one of the three exit hubs identified in the deal, less than 24 hours later, though.
Despite its rage, Ukraine stated on Monday that it still anticipated the agreement’s implementation in the next days.
“Everything is getting ready to start this week,”
Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure, was in charge of the country’s delegation at the recent grain negotiations in Istanbul.
Following the attack on the adjacent city of Odessa, Ukrainian officials said that the port of Chornomorsk in southwest Ukraine would be the first to open. They also emphasised the significance of security.
Mines, according to Ukraine, were required to thwart an amphibious invasion and were one of the reasons why Russia had justified its embargo.
According to Kubrakov, demining will only be done in the maritime lanes needed for grain exports, and Ukrainian ships will accompany the convoys that are leaving to deliver both grain and fertiliser.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar praised Ukraine’s resolve to continue the supplies after speaking with Kubrakov on the phone.
The first ship must set sail as quickly as possible, it is crucial.
In a statement, Akar said.
Kremlin’s evolving story
The Kremlin claimed on Monday that the Turkish-mediated effort to get the grain onto international markets “should not be affected” by the actions in Odessa, which it had earlier denied to Turkey.
Moscow’s cruise missiles, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, target “exclusively” military infrastructure and are “not related to the deal on the export of grain.”
Russian officials have tried to pin the food problem on Western sanctions.
On his first stop in Egypt while travelling through Africa, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pledged that Russia would fulfil grain orders.
Mykhaylo Podolyak, a presidential assistant for Ukraine, denounced the visit as a cunning ruse by Moscow after it exacerbated the food crisis.
“You created the fake hunger and then arrived to lift spirits,”
He promised on Twitter that the grain from Ukraine will get to its destinations.
Ned Price, a spokesperson for the State Department in Washington, expressed optimism that grain shipments would leave in the next few days but said that the US was “clear-eyed.”
“The track record of Moscow in terms of prior accords it has signed is not exactly a basis for hope,”
stated Price.
Russia is continuing its gruelling advance across southeast Ukraine, while Kyiv’s forces are receiving reinforcements in the form of new Western military aid shipments.
According to the Ukrainian presidency, a Russian airstrike in the northeastern Kharkiv region resulted in the collapse of a cultural centre, trapping seven persons underneath it.
Rescue efforts are still going on even though three people were taken out alive.
It stated that there had been shelling along the whole front line and that Soledar had seen at least one fatality.
Officials claimed Ukrainian soldiers blocked a Russian drive in many villages in the south, where Kyiv has planned a strong counteroffensive to recover the important Kherson region.
Longer-range Western weapons have helped Ukraine target Russian supply lines deeper in seized territory, aiding its effort to drive the Kremlin’s forces from the country.