Because Canada, at the urging of the federal government, authorizes the export of a repaired gas turbine to Russia, Ukraine reacted with protests. Selenskyj calls in the Canadian ambassador. According to the President, Russia sees the delivery as a sign of weakness.
Ukraine has protested that Canada, at the urging of the federal government, has approved the export of a repaired turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline coming from Russia. In view of this "unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia", the Canadian ambassador was summoned, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj told Telegram.
This process is seen in Moscow as a sign of weakness, said the Ukrainian President. There is no doubt that Russia not only wants to cut gas supplies as much as possible. In fact, Russia wants to completely turn off the gas tap for Europe - and this "at the most painful moment".
Russia had already severely curtailed gas supplies in mid-June because of a defective turbine. Canada approved the export of the now repaired turbine at the weekend; the turbine is now to be delivered to Russia via Germany as quickly as possible. Siemens Canada announced that it would install the turbine as soon as possible.
The detour via Germany is necessary because Canada cannot return the turbine directly due to the sanctions against Russia. The Minister responsible for natural resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, justified the exemption from the sanctions by saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to divide the allies against Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine with his energy policy. "We can't allow that," Wilkinson said.
A government spokeswoman said in Berlin that the reason given by the Russian side for the throttled gas volumes would be eliminated with the delivery of the turbine. The federal government took note of Ukraine's protest against the delivery of the turbine. However, the European Union's sanctions against Russia would not affect gas transit, the spokeswoman said.
Maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline also began on Monday, so that gas is no longer flowing anyway. The maintenance work had been announced by the Russian side. The federal government expects this to last around ten days. It remains to be seen whether gas will flow through the pipeline again afterwards.
