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Russian Nord Stream Gas Pipeline Restarted after Maintenance

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
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Russian Nord Stream Gas Pipeline Restarted after Maintenance

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

The Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany restarted on Thursday after 10 days of maintenance work, its operator told AFP.

"It's working," a Nord Stream spokesman said, without specifying the amount of gas being delivered. The German government had feared the pipeline would not be reopened by Moscow after the scheduled work.

According to data given by Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom to Gascade, the German operator of the line, 530 GWh would be delivered during the day.

This was only 30 percent of its capacity, Klaus Mueller, president of Germany's energy regulator, the Federal Network Agency, said on Twitter.

Gazprom has cut flows to Germany via the vital Nord Stream 1 pipeline by some 60 percent in recent weeks, blaming the absence of a Siemens gas turbine that was undergoing repairs in Canada.

The German government has rejected Gazprom's turbine explanation and believes Russia is squeezing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea has been shut down since July 11 to undergo annual maintenance.

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Armenian Prime Minister Meets Erdogan in Rare Visit to Türkiye Aimed at Mending Ties

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Presidential Press Office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C-L) posing before their meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, 20 June 2025. (EPA/ Turkish Presidential Press Office)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Presidential Press Office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C-L) posing before their meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, 20 June 2025. (EPA/ Turkish Presidential Press Office)
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Armenian Prime Minister Meets Erdogan in Rare Visit to Türkiye Aimed at Mending Ties

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Presidential Press Office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C-L) posing before their meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, 20 June 2025. (EPA/ Turkish Presidential Press Office)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Presidential Press Office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C-L) posing before their meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, 20 June 2025. (EPA/ Turkish Presidential Press Office)

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday as part of the two countries' efforts to normalize ties that were strained over historic disputes and Türkiye’s alliance with Azerbaijan.

The talks between the two countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties, were expected to center on the possible reopening of their joint border as well as the war between Israel and Iran.

Türkiye, a close ally of Azerbaijan, shut down its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with Baku, which was locked in a conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In 2020, Türkiye strongly backed Azerbaijan in the six-week conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of the region.

Türkiye and Armenia also have a more than century-old dispute over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Türkiye.

Historians widely view the event as genocide. Türkiye vehemently rejects the label, conceding that many died in that era but insisting that the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest.

The rare visit by an Armenian leader comes after Ankara and Yerevan agreed in 2021 to launch efforts toward normalizing ties and appointed special representatives to lead talks.

Pashinyan previously visited Türkiye in 2023 when he attended a presidential inauguration ceremony following an election victory by Erdogan. The two have also held talks on the sideline of a meeting in Prague in 2022.

It is Ankara and Yerevan’s second attempt at reconciliation. Türkiye and Armenia reached an agreement in 2009 to establish formal relations and to open their border, but the deal was never ratified because of strong opposition from Azerbaijan.