(Cernobbio) European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni assured on Saturday that the European Union was “well prepared” in the event of a total stoppage of Russian gas deliveries, thanks to storage and energy saving measures.
Posted at 7:39
“We are well prepared to resist Russia’s extreme use of the gas weapon,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the economic forum organized by The European House-Ambrosetti in Cernobbio, on Lake from Como.
“We are not afraid of Putin’s decisions, we ask the Russians to respect the contracts, but if they don’t, we are ready to react”, he underlined.
The Russian giant Gazprom announced on Friday that the Nord Stream gas pipeline, linking Russia to northern Germany, which was to resume service this Saturday after a three-day interruption for maintenance operations, would finally be “completely” stopped until to the repair of a turbine, without specifying a deadline.
PHOTO YVES HERMAN, ARCHIVES REUTERS
The European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni
Moscow was thus reacting to the decision announced Friday by the G7 countries to target Russia’s energy windfall by agreeing to cap the price of its oil.
In addition, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen estimated on Friday that “it would be time” to put a cap on the price of gas imported by pipeline from Russia, thus supporting a measure advocated by the Italian Prime Minister. Mario Draghi.
In the European Union, “gas storage is currently at around 80%, thanks to the diversification of supplies”, even if the situation differs from one country to another, indicated Mr. Gentiloni.
Brussels “has done a lot in recent months” but “today it is possible to do more”, because “the wall of divisions which has blocked the Commission’s action in recent months has many breaches”, has congratulated the European Commissioner.
The objective is to “pursue the strategy of a united Europe that works against the invasion of Ukraine by using the economic weapon”, he explained.
“We are not taking part in the war, we are not taking part in the military escalation”, but “we support Ukraine” and “we have to do it now more effectively”, he insisted.