Canada revokes Nord Stream sanction waiver despite European energy woes
Canada says no more pipeline repairs for Nord Stream network
Canada has revoked the waiver it issued on sanctions targeting the Nord Stream 1 pipeline despite European energy concerns after Ottawa said Russia showed no intention of bringing the pipeline back up and running.
Authorities on Wednesday said they were revoking a temporary waiver Canada had issued in July that allowed for pipeline repairs to be made in Montreal and then shipped to Germany where the pipeline meets the EU.
Russian energy giant Gazprom first sent a 20-ton German-owned Siemens Energy turbine to Canada in July after Moscow had shut down the pipeline due to alleged repairs that were needed.
A painting showing the Nord Stream pipelines is displayed on a container near the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline in Lubmin, Germany, July 20, 2022. (AP Newsroom)
EU HITS RUSSIA WITH NEW SANCTIONS, ISSUES PRICE CAP ON OIL FOLLOWING NORD STREAM 'SABOTAGE'
Russia continuously shut off oil flow to Europe as tensions grew increasingly hostile between Moscow and the European Union following its invasion of Ukraine.
By September, blasts near the Nord Stream 1 and 2 lines forced the network to be shut down.
Investigators later found traces of explosives on "foreign objects" near the pipeline in what authorities called "gross sabotage."
Prosecutors have not officially declared a culprit, though Western officials have laid the blame squarely on Russia and oil supplies have yet to resume as previously intended.
Danish Defense shows the gas leaking at Nord Stream 2 seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm, Denmark on September 27, 2022. (Photo by Danish Defence/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
KREMLIN REJECTS EU OIL PRICE CAP: 'EUROPE WILL LIVE WITHOUT RUSSIAN OIL'
"[Russian President Vladimir Putin] has been forced to show that his intention was never to return Nord Stream 1 to full operation, and that the pipeline itself has been rendered inoperable," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
The authorities said the turbine that had been returned to Germany following repairs was met by resistance from Moscow which apparently "refused to accept the turbine."
E.ON, Europe's largest operator of energy networks, rejected demands to shut down the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline as part of sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, the company told Rheinische Post newspapeR. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, File / AP Newsroom)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP
The decision to re-implement full sanctions on the pipeline against Russia was made in coordination with German partners, the Canadian officials said.
The joint statement also noted that the $115 million in tariff revenues collected on imports from Russia and Belarus will be used to repair Kyiv’s power grid.