Europe is “well prepared” – due to storage capability and vitality conservation measures – if Russia determined to cease all fuel deliveries, a high EU chief stated Saturday amid an intensifying vitality battle between Russia and the West over the struggle in Ukraine.
‘We are nicely ready to withstand Russia’s excessive use of the fuel weapon,’ EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni informed reporters on the sidelines of an financial discussion board in Italy. ‘We aren’t afraid of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s choices, we’re asking the Russians to respect contracts, but when they do not, we’re able to react.”
Gentiloni’s remarks come on the heels of Moscow’s decision Friday to delay the reopening of its main gas pipeline to Germany. Russia was reacting to the Group of Seven countries’ agreement to cap the price of Russian oil exports, limiting Moscow’s profits.
Gentiloni said that gas storage in the European Union ‘is currently at about 80%, thanks to the diversification of supplies,’ although the situation varies in each country.
Russian energy giant Gazprom said it could not resume the supply of natural gas to Germany, just hours before it was set to restart deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Russia blamed a technical fault in the pipeline for the move, which is likely to worsen Europe’s energy crisis.
European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said Friday on Twitter that Gazprom acted under ‘fallacious pretenses’ to shut down the pipeline.
Turbine-maker Siemens Energy said Friday that there was no technical reason to stop shipping natural gas.
Moscow has blamed Western sanctions that took effect after Russia invaded Ukraine for hindering the maintenance of the gas pipeline. Europe accuses Russia of using its leverage over gas supplies to retaliate against European sanctions.
Friday, finance ministers from the G-7 countries said they would work quickly to implement a price cap on Russian oil exports.
The G-7 ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States said the amount of the price cap would be determined later ‘based on a range of technical inputs.’
FILE – A Russian construction worker speaks on a phone during a ceremony marking the start of Nord Stream pipeline construction in Portovaya Bay, 170 kms northwest of St. Petersburg, Russia, April 9, 2010. Russian energy giant Gazprom said Sept. 2, 2022, that it couldn’t resume the supply of natural gas through the pipeline to Germany, citing the need for more maintenance.
‘This price cap on Russian oil exports is designed to reduce Putin’s revenues, closing an important source of funding for the war of aggression,’ said German Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the decision by G-7 finance ministers.
‘When this mechanism is implemented, it will become an important element of protecting civilized countries and energy markets from Russian hybrid aggression,’ Zelenskyy said in his Friday evening video address.
The jockeying for control of energy supplies comes as Russian and Ukrainian forces trade strikes near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where U.N. inspectors are seeking to avert a potential disaster.
Ukraine’s military said Friday it had carried out strikes against a Russian base in the southern town of Enerhodar, near the nuclear power plant.
Russia and Ukraine each accuse the other of shelling near the facility. Kyiv also accuses Moscow of storing ammunition around the plant and using the facility as a shield for carrying out attacks, charges Russia denies.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency visited the Zaporizhzhia plant this week, having braved artillery blasts to reach the facility on Thursday.
IAEA head Rafael Mariano Grossi said he and his team saw everything they asked to see at the plant, were not surprised by anything, and he will issue a report early next week on his findings.
Grossi, who has left Ukraine, spoke with reporters Friday after arriving at the airport in Vienna, said ‘My concern would be the physical integrity – would be the power supply and of course the staff” at Zaporizhzhia.
FILE – A view reveals the Zaporizhzhia nuclear energy plant in the middle of Ukraine-Russia battle exterior the Russian-controlled metropolis of Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia area, Ukraine, Aug. 30, 2022.
A workforce of 13 consultants accompanied Grossi to Ukraine, and he stated six have remained at Zaporizhzhia. Of these six, two will stay till hostilities stop, which Grossi stated will make an enormous distinction.
‘If one thing occurs or if any limitation comes, they’re going to be reporting it – report it to us,’ Grossi stated. ‘It is now not a matter of ‘A stated this, and B stated the opposite.’ Now the IAEA is there.’
Ukraine’s nuclear company, Energoatom, on Friday accused Russia of ‘making each effort’ to forestall the IAEA mission from studying the true state of affairs on the facility.
The Zaporizhzhia plant has been managed by Russia because the earliest days of its invasion however stays operated by Ukrainian engineers.
With the nuclear plant in a struggle zone, world leaders have expressed fears it could possibly be broken and lead to a radiation catastrophe like that at Ukraine’s Chernobyl plant in 1986.
Ukrainian grain shipments are persevering with. The Joint Coordination Center stated Friday that it had licensed the motion of eight ships from Ukraine’s ports, carrying 196,285 metric tons of grain and different meals merchandise underneath the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The vessels are leaving Saturday, heading to Egypt, Greece, India, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey.
In addition, two ships scheduled to go away Friday will as an alternative go away within the coming days, the JCC stated, carrying grain and different foodstuffs to Turkey and China.
The JCC stated it’s set to complete 9 vessel inspections on Saturday – six on inbound vessels and three on outbound vessels.
As of September 2, the JCC stated “the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported from the three Ukrainian ports is 1,766,531 metric tons. A total of 160 voyages (86 inbound and 74 outbound) have been enabled so far.”
Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some data got here from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.