Putin shuts off EU’s Nord Stream gas supply
POLITICOSep 03, 2022
Analysts forecast that the price of gas in Europe will reach record highs this week, after the Russian gas giant Gazprom announced that it's indefinitely halting supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline due to technical issues. Reports say Dutch TTF – considered a European benchmark for wholesale gas prices – was up as much as 30% in early trading on Monday.
Meanwhile, amid heightened concerns Europe is headed for recession, the euro fell below $0.99 for the first time in 20 years in trading on Monday. The news came as protestors in Germany and the Czech Republic held rallies over the weekend calling for their governments to reverse sanctions on Russia and tackle the soaring price of gas.
Putin has weaponized European gas supplies in retaliation for the sanctions placed on his country over the Kremlin's illegal invasion of Ukraine. Europe needs to cut its dependency on Russian gas as soon as possible.
It's an inaccurate fabrication to suggest Russia cut off gas supplies for political reasons. These disruptions are caused by European sanctions which have prevented essential maintenance work from being carried out and have put the pipeline in jeopardy.
There's a 5% chance that Nord Stream 2 will be completed before 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.