Moscow is trying to jeopardize Europe’s energy security, including by denying the transfer of a turbine to Russian giant Gazprom, according to the foreign ministers of Canada and Germany, who say the whole world sees clearly in Vladimir Putin’s game.
The “unity” of Ottawa, Berlin and the allies constitutes the “best weapon” against the stratagems and the “bluff” of Russia, according to Mélanie Joly and her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock. They took part in a public event in Montreal on Wednesday, following Canada’s controversial decision to return parts of a Russian gas pipeline to Germany.
The two ministers held a press conference during which they discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the consequences of the war on energy and food prices.
The Controversy Turbine
A little before the meeting of the two ministers, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, went to a Siemens factory in western Germany to inspect a turbine which has been at the heart of a controversy for several weeks.
According to Scholz, the turbine is ready to operate, but Moscow continues to block its transfer, claiming that the German company Siemens has not provided the necessary documentation.
“Russia is not playing by the rules of the game, it is trying to divide the allies and the whole world can now see that it is playing with the energy security of Europe”, indicated Annalena Baerbock about this situation, in specifying that “unity” was “the best weapon of the allies”, a formula also used by Mélanie Joly, with whom the German minister seemed to have a lot of complicity.
“We must denounce the ‘bluff'” of Vladimir Putin who “uses energy to wage war”, denounced the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada.
Before being in Germany, this turbine was in a Siemens factory in Montreal to be repaired and, three weeks ago, the Canadian government offended Ukraine by authorizing its delivery to Germany because it is a of key equipment for a major gas pipeline linking Russia to Europe.
According to kyiv, Ottawa’s decision to allow the shipment of this equipment constitutes “a dangerous precedent” which risks undermining the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West, because the pipeline which supplies Germany with natural gas belongs to the Russian group Gazprom.
Ottawa’s decision “was not easy to make”, according to Mélanie Joly, but it was necessary to avoid aggravating the energy crisis in Europe.
Minister Baerbock, for her part, thanked the Canadian government for “its support and solidarity with Europe” and underlined “the leadership of Justin Trudeau” in the turbine file.
Russia has cut natural gas supplies to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20% and Gazprom’s repeated cuts in gas supplies to various countries are raising fears that Russia could completely cut off supplies in an attempt to pressure over Europe.
Six turbines under maintenance
In July, Canada said it would grant a Canadian company an exemption from Russian sanctions and allow the export to Germany of six turbines under repair in Montreal, which are part of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
So five other pieces of equipment should eventually leave Montreal to be transferred to Gazprom.
“We do not have all the details of the contract between Gazprom and Siemens”, explained Minister Joly, specifying that it was a contract “for the maintenance of six turbines for two years”.
Nuclear, hydrogen, gas
Growing fears of an energy crisis linked to the conflict in Ukraine are such that the German government is considering extending the operating life of the last three nuclear power plants in operation in Germany. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel had however announced their permanent closure.
Canada intends to play a role in helping Germany meet the energy demands of its citizens and businesses, and Minister Baerbock has made no secret of her government’s concern that energy demand will increase next winter.
“We are in solution mode,” indicated Mélanie Joly, referring, as Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson did a few months ago, to the possibility of Canada exporting hydrogen and natural gas to help Europe get rid of its dependence on Russian oil.
She pointed out that a lot of discussions were underway between Ottawa and the various provinces on this subject.
Referring to Quebec, Minister Joly made this remark during an event organized by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal in the afternoon: “It is worth looking at what can be done with hydrogen. »
She indicated that thanks to hydroelectricity, Quebec “can produce green hydrogen” and possibly export it to European markets.
Natural gas and hydrogen are “very important topics of discussion” between Germany and Canada, added his German counterpart.
Canada is already helping Europe, Germany in particular, to deal with the energy crisis, but this assistance comes from fossil fuels.
Ottawa announced last March that Canadian industry would gradually increase its oil and gas exports by about 300,000 barrels per day during 2022, to replace Russian oil and gas, and that Canada had no exceed this threshold to make up for the lack of Russian oil.