Shipment of turbines for Nord Stream 1 | Zelensky decries, Washington supports

(Ottawa) A diplomatic row has just broken out between Ukraine and Canada. The reason for the contention: the six turbines for Russia’s Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline that the Trudeau government has agreed to send to Germany, circumventing its own sanctions against Moscow – an exemption that has Washington’s consent.

Melanie Marquis
The Press

The privilege granted by Ottawa has embittered Kyiv, so much so that the charge d’affaires of the Canadian embassy in Ukraine has been summoned by the Ukrainian government – ​​which is never a very good sign when it comes to bilateral relations .

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon the representative of Canada to our country because of a totally unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video posted Monday on his website. .

Ukrainian anger was clearly communicated on Sunday: “This dangerous precedent violates international solidarity, goes against the principle of the rule of law and will have only one consequence: it will reinforce Moscow’s feeling of impunity” , we cursed in a government statement.

The owner and operator of the 1,200 kilometer pipeline linking Russia and Germany, Gazprom, is on Canada’s list of companies targeted by economic sanctions. The company argued that in the absence of this equipment, a reduction in volume would be inevitable – a version disputed by Kyiv.

Once the equipment arrives in Germany, Siemens Energy will ship it to Russia “as soon as possible”, a company spokeswoman told The Press. He will have to obtain an additional derogation, this time from European Union sanctions, for this shipment to Russian territory.

“Our experts are currently working tirelessly on all other formal and logistical approvals. This involves, among other things, the export and import control procedures that are required by law,” the German energy giant explained.

Washington and Berlin behind Ottawa

The Trudeau government can take comfort in knowing that it has the support of the United States.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price issued a statement on Monday in support of Canada’s controversial decision to grant a “time-limited, revocable permit” for the shipment of six turbines that were stuck in the Montreal facilities of Siemens Canada.

“We support the Canadian government’s decision to return a natural gas turbine to Germany for use in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline,” he wrote, arguing that this will allow Germany and other European countries to replenish their gas reserves.

The European Union will thus be able to “increase its energy security and resilience and counter Russia’s efforts to militarize energy”, adds the spokesperson.

He also indicated that Washington and its allies like Canada are determined to support Ukraine and ensure that Russia’s economy suffers from the sanctions.

Germany, which had put pressure on Canada, expressed its satisfaction.

On Twitter, the German ambassador to Canada, Sabine Sparwasser, said she was “grateful” for the government’s decision. “We know it hasn’t been easy. But it is crucial to help Canada’s European allies gradually strengthen our independence from Russia,” she wrote.

Credibility to be restored

After the Conservative Party, the day before, it was the turn of the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party (NDP) to serve a volley of green wood to the Trudeau government.

Because Canada and Germany “place the world before the fait accompli of an exception to sanctions without a clear demonstration of its necessity”, regretted in an email the leader of the Bloc, Yves-François Blanchet, deploring the “energetic blackmail of the Russia”.

In the NDP, the spokesperson for foreign affairs, Heather McPherson, also spoke out against this “insult to the Ukrainian people” which must be reversed “urgently”. She is calling for an immediate meeting of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to discuss it.