THE European Union called on member states to reduce gas use by 15 per cent today and asked for the power to impose such cuts on individual countries.
The European Commission, the unelected body which controls EU policy, said threats to reduce gas exports from Russia meant “Europe needs to be ready.
“Russia is blackmailing us. Russia is using energy as a weapon. And whether it’s a partial cutoff or total cutoff” the EU would have to reduce gas use, commission president Ursula von der Leyen said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at a summit in Iran that gas flows would reduce further unless a turbine used in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is replaced. The turbine was sent to Canada for repairs and is apparently now in Germany.
He said the Nord Stream 2 pipeline could be used to increase gas flows, but launching this has been halted by the German government in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A decision to open it anyway would be a major diplomatic coup for Russia. Mr Putin also said Ukraine had blocked gas flows via its territory.
The demand for a 15 per cent reduction would mean serious gas rationing in many states.
The EU has placed bans on importing Russian oil and coal, but not gas, which many states, including its biggest economy, Germany, are heavily reliant on.
Economists say a major reduction in Russian gas flows would cripple German industry, likely leading to a Europe-wide depression.
Western sanctions have caused energy prices to spiral worldwide, leading to a bonanza for Russia as the value of its exports rises, with China and India sharply increasing imports.
Russian energy exports brought in nearly £80 billion between February and June, estimated to be four times higher than the cost of its war in Ukraine in that period.
Western pressure on alternative energy suppliers to increase oil exports has also helped Russia, with Saudi Arabia doubling its imports of Russian oil in the second quarter of this year so that it can export more of its own production to Western states which are no longer buying from Russia.
