Russia Blames Sanctions for Extended Nord Stream 1 Closure

The Kremlin has blamed European sanctions over the weekend for extending the Nord Stream 1 pipeline closure which has sent European gas prices soaring this morning in early trading.

• "If the Europeans absolutely absurdly make a decision to refuse to service their equipment, or rather, equipment that belongs to Gazprom, but which they are contractually required to service, this is not Gazprom's fault," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russia's state television, "It is the fault of those politicians who made decisions on sanctions."
• "All the terms of the repair contract have been completely violated, the conditions for transporting this equipment have been violated," Novak said, "In addition, sanctions have been introduced - both from Canada and from the European Union - on the relevant equipment, therefore they need to be brought into line with the contractual terms in order for this equipment to really continue to work."