European gas prices flirted with new records again this week as Russia once again cut flows to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Flows dropped to just 20% of capacity on 27 July, only days after the pipeline had resumed operations following maintenance work.
Russia denies that the drop in gas flows is politically motivated, instead attributing it to technical problems. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says any suggestion of political motivation is “completely wrong,” and says that “sanctions do not make it possible to promptly perform maintenance, change spare parts, perform major repairs and other routine maintenance on the equipment that is necessary for pumping.” (CONTINUED - 1056 WORDS)
