On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which remains intact.
“The ball is in the EU’s court. If they want to, then the taps can be turned on and that’s it.”
– Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation
However, Germany has decided to reject the offer, after Russia already halted gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in early September.
Nord Stream 2 never became operational after Germany halted its approval following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Independently of the possible sabotage of the two pipelines, we have seen that Russia is no longer a reliable energy supplier, and that even before the damage to Nord Stream 1 there was no longer any gas flowing.”
– Christiane Hoffmann, German Government Spokeswoman
The Nord Stream pipelines were recently sabotaged and repairs would take at least a year, according to Alexei Miller, head of Russian energy company Gazprom.
