Russia said Tuesday that it would not resume natural gas flow to the European Union until sanctions are lifted, all but acknowledging that it is intentionally inflicting an energy crisis on Europe as a means of countering Western economic punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday that the “problems” pumping gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline “came about because of the sanctions Western countries introduced against our country and several companies.”
“There are no other reasons that could have caused this pumping problem,” he said.
But EU leaders and industry officials said that sanctions are not an obstacle to the flow of gas.
