“That really has huge ramifications for gas in Europe which is about four times more expensive than it was a year ago and this cost of living crisis will really soar because it’s not just gas,” she said. “Gas becomes fertiliser and it’s used in many industrial processes, so that will affect jobs, and it will affect costs.”
The flow of gas through Nord Stream 1 had already been reduced to a relative trickle. Now, once again, it has been halted completely.
Europe believes President Putin is weaponising gas supplies – deliberately limiting flows through the pipeline to push up prices, in order to test the resolve of Russia’s critics.
The result, as we’ve already seen, is soaring energy costs – with businesses and consumers paying a heavy price.
The timing of Gazprom’s move is certainly interesting. It comes on the same day the G7 announced moves to cap the price of Russia’s oil exports.
But it also comes shortly after Germany – which is heavily reliant on Russian gas – revealed that its winter storage was filling up faster than expected.
A cynic might say this was a last opportunity to tighten the screw, in order to inflict maximum damage over the colder months.