Poland and Bulgaria have accused Moscow of “blackmail” after the Russian energy giant Gazprom said it had cut off gas exports to the countries.
Poland’s deputy foreign minister, Marcin Przydacz, told the BBC that Russia was seeking to “foster divisions” between Western allies.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the move showed Russia’s “unreliability” as an energy supplier.
It follows Poland and Bulgaria’s refusal to pay for gas in roubles.
Early Wednesday morning, Gazprom released a statement saying it had halted supplies to both Poland and Bulgaria — both heavy consumers of Russian gas — due to payments not being made in the Russian currency. It said supplies would resume once these payments were made.
In the statement, Gazprom warned both countries against any “unauthorized withdrawal” of gas supplies flowing through their territories.
“Bulgaria and Poland are transit states. In case of unauthorized withdrawal of Russian gas from transit volumes to third countries, supplies for transit will be reduced by this volume.”
Natural gas prices surged in Europe Wednesday morning. The Dutch wholesale gas contract for the day-ahead, a benchmark for Europe, rose 24.2% to 115.75 euros per megawatt hour, while the U.K. natural gas price for June rose around 20 pence to 222 pence a therm.
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Europe depends on Russia for more than a third of its gas needs. Gazprom holds a monopoly on pipeline gas supplies in Russia.
Germany, which derives 40 per cent of its imported gas from Russia, said it was continuing to receive Russian gas unimpeded. “Germany’s security of supply is currently assured,” a spokesman for the Federal Network Agency, the regulator that oversees Germany’s energy infrastructure.
The German economy ministry said “for the time being we have not identified any shortages”. “But we are concerned that there has been a shut-off in supply to our European partners. We are co-ordinating closely within the European Union to form an overview of the situation. The relevant bodies are currently meeting.”
Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s prime minister, accused Russia of “gas imperialism” after Gazprom cut off supplies but insisted that the nation would be able to cope without Russian hydrocarbons.
Russia’s energy exports had until now continued largely unhindered since the war began, the biggest loophole in sanctions that have otherwise cut off Moscow from much of its trade with the West.
Kyiv has long called on Europe to stop funding Moscow’s war effort by cutting off imports that bring Russia hundreds of millions of dollars a day.
Germany said this week it is hoping to stop importing Russian oil within days. But weaning Europe off cheap and abundant Russian natural gas, which heats its houses, fuels its factories and drives its electric power plants, would be a far more disruptive prospect.
Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia was “beginning the gas blackmail of Europe”.
Since the Russian invasion force was driven back to the outskirts of Kyiv last month, Moscow has refocused its operation on eastern Ukraine, starting a new offensive from several directions to fully capture two provinces known as the Donbas.
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