Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has said that the "gas war" the Russian Federation is waging against Europe is an extension of its war against Ukraine. He has urged the EU to take retaliatory measures.

"Putin’s gas war against Europe is a direct extension of his war against Ukraine. His goal is to inflict damage in every possible way. He will take advantage of every way Europe is dependent on Russia to wreck the lives of European families. The only way [to stop him] is to take retaliatory measures and get rid of every last dependence," Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

Putin’s gas war against Europe is a direct continuation of his war on Ukraine. Wherever he can bring harm, he will. He will use every dependence Europe has on Russia to ruin the normal life of every European family. The only way is to hit back hard and get rid of any dependence.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) July 26, 2022

According to earlier reports, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Russia’s latest actions – such as limiting the transit of gas to the European Union – practically unleashed a "gas war against Europe". He added that this must compel the European Union to implement a new, stricter set of sanctions against Russia.

On Monday, Gazprom – a Russian state-owned monopoly gas company – announced that it will shut down the turbine engine of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, in effect reducing the pipeline’s capacity from 40% to 20%. As a result, European gas prices hiked to $1,860 for 1,000 cubic metres.

The EU has said that Gazprom’s decision to further reduce the supply of gas to Europe this week is politically motivated and has no technical grounds.

Earlier, the Canadian government agreed to make an exception to the sanctions against Russia and transfer the Nord Stream turbine which was serviced in Canada to Germany in order to meet Germany’s request and reduce the risk that the Russian Federation would not resume the supply of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline after the planned repairs.

The turbine has still not reached Russia, because Russia refused to conclude an agreement concerning the conditions of its transfer. Gazprom claims that the Canadian documents it has received from Siemens [the maker of the turbine - ed.] that outline the conditions of the turbine’s transfer "do not address the previously outlined risks" and, in fact, raise additional questions.