The prevailing opinion among most ‘observers,’ Politico explains, is that “Russia blew up the pipelines … in an effort to further destabilize Europe’s energy supplies.
Investigation into the sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines are turning into a race for evidence after Sweden pulled out of an earlier agreement on forming a ‘Joint Investigation Team’ with Denmark and Germany.
Anxiety has been heightened because these cables are mostly owned by private companies and they pass through areas that are accessible to all, making them very vulnerable.
A total of three leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have been discovered within 24 hours, leading investigators to suspect sabotage. Officials’ two main theories are that either Ukraine or Russia is responsible for the leaks.
Gazprom’s purported technical issues mark the latest episode in what is fast becoming a long-running series of similar events—Gazprom has regularly invoked such issues as the reason for reducing gas flows into Germany and the rest of Europe.
With the missing gas turbine stuck with Siemens in Germany, Gazprom blames the delay for delivering only 20% of its capacity via Nord Stream 1. Meanwhile, Germany’s gas reservoirs are steadily filling up.
After 10 days of being shut down due to scheduled maintenance, gas deliveries from Russia to Germany have resumed via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, albeit only at 30% capacity. While operators claim full capacity will be reached at some point, German politicians are far from relieved.
Canada’s return of a repaired gas turbine to Russia has left Germans relieved that the gas flow through Nord Stream 1 may soon resume. But Ukrainian officials are disappointed about the circumvention of sanctions.
