Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novakis has hinted at restoring gas deliveries to Europe via the Yamal-Europe pipeline, much to the amazement of the Western world.
“As the gas deficit persists, the European market remains relevant, and we have every chance to resume supply. For example, the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, which was halted for political reasons, is still in operation “Novakis told Russia’s TASS news agency.
Despite the interruptions, Novakis stated that the gas supply to Europe had increased.
“Even now this market is not closed. For example, we were able to significantly increase LNG supplies to Europe this year; they have increased to 19.4 billion cubic meters in 11 months of 2022, and we expect 21 billion cubic meters by the end of the year.”
“Today, we can confidently say that there is a demand for our gas. Therefore, we continue to consider Europe as a potential market for the sale of our products. It is clear that a large-scale campaign was launched against us, which ended with acts of sabotage against Nord Stream.”
Notably, Russian gas giant Gazprom cut off supplies through the referenced pipeline, which passes through Poland, in May of this year. After Gazprom’s parent business was sanctioned, shipments had to be halted as well.
At the time, Warsaw declined to acquire Russian gas and instead relied on Germany’s stockpiled gas reserves.
The energy conundrum between Europe and Russia has been ongoing ever since Putin invaded Ukraine
Since Putin and his forces invaded Ukraine, the western world and Russia have been at odds over energy. Gas and oil are critical components of Moscow’s economy, and the West wishes to harm it by applying sanctions.
However, in the absence of credible alternatives capable of supplying energy on a large scale, the sanctions tactic has not worked as well as it should have.
Following months of deliberation, the G7 countries, the European Union, and Australia agreed earlier this month on a price ceiling of $60 per barrel of seaborne Russian Urals crude oil.
As a result, experts are shocked that Moscow is willing to resume gas supplies through the Yamal-Europe pipeline.