Putin takes swipe at Giorgia Meloni by cutting off gas to Italy days after she backed Ukraine
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Putin takes his first swipe at Giorgia Meloni by completely cutting off gas to Italy just days after the right-wing leader backed Ukraine
- Italy reported that Russia’s Gazprom has suspended its gas supply until Monday
- The gas giant said the delay is due to a transport problem in Austria
- However, it follows Italy’s new leader, Giorgia Meloni, who publicly criticizes Putin
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Russia’s Gazprom has suspended gas supplies to Italy just days after new right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni publicly supported Ukraine.
Italian energy giant Eni said it learned that a transportation problem in Austria meant that the Russian gas supplier wouldn’t be able to supply gas until at least Monday.
Giorgia Meloni, who will become Italy’s new prime minister, previously said Putin “threatens the security of the entire European continent” and that his annexation of four Ukrainian regions “has no legal and political value”.
Putin is at odds with Europeans countries over the supply of natural gas and is accused of using the gas flow needed for energy in the region as an economic weapon.
Most of the Russian gas supplied to Italy goes via Ukraine via the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline (TAG) to Tarvisio in northern Italy on the border with Austria.
Gazprom said in a statement later in the day that the transport of Russian gas through Austria had been suspended “due to the Austrian operator’s refusal to confirm the transport nominations”.
“The reason has to do with the regulatory changes that took place in Austria at the end of September,” it added.
Tensions reached new heights this week after leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia and Germany spewed tons of methane into the Baltic Sea.
The Danish Energy Agency now says that one of two ruptured natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea appears to have stopped leaking.
Gazprom has halted gas supplies to Italy just days after new right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni backed Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of using the gas flow to Europe as an economic weapon
Italian energy giant Eni said they had been notified by Gazprom that a transportation problem in Austria meant they couldn’t deliver gas until at least Monday.
Explosions along the Nord Stream pipelines led to the leakage of thousands of tons of natural gas into the Baltic Sea
In Austria, regulator E-Control said the new rules, which came into effect on Saturday, “had been known to all market players for months.”
It said it expected “everyone to conform and take the necessary steps to meet their obligations.”
The issues were related to “contractual details” related to the transit of gas to Italy, it said on Twitter.
Before the war in Ukraine, Italy imported 95 percent of the gas it consumes, about 45 percent of which came from Russia.
Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi has signed new agreements with other gas producers to reduce Italy’s reliance on Russia, cut to 25 percent from June, while accelerating a shift to renewable energy.
Denmark and Sweden said of the leak (pictured) that ‘the potential impact on marine life in the Baltic Sea is worrying, and the climate impact would likely be very substantial’
It appears that the Nord 2 gas pipeline is now no longer leaking into the sea, the Danish Energy Agency said on Twitter that it had been informed by the company operating the pipeline that pressure appears to have stabilized.
“This indicates that gas leakage into this pipeline has stopped,” said the Danish Energy Agency.
Submarine explosions that damaged Nord Stream I and 2 pipelines this week have resulted in massive methane leaks. Nordic investigators said hundreds of kilograms of explosives were involved in the blast.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West on Friday of sabotaging Russia’s pipelines, a charge vehemently denied by the United States and its allies.
In Moscow on Friday, Putin claimed that “Anglo-Saxons” in the West have moved from imposing sanctions on Russia to “terror attacks,” sabotaging the pipelines in what he described as an attempt to “destroy Europe’s energy infrastructure.”
In Washington, US President Joe Biden dismissed claims about Putin’s pipeline as bizarre.
“It was a deliberate act of sabotage. And now the Russians are pumping out misinformation and lies. We will work with our allies to get to the bottom of what happened,” Biden promised. “Just don’t listen to what Putin says. What he says we know is not true.’
The attacks on the pipelines have prompted energy companies and European governments to strengthen security around energy infrastructure.