Kremlin: Nord Stream 1 Turbine to be Installed, Volumes will Adjust

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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Kremlin: Nord Stream 1 Turbine to be Installed, Volumes will Adjust

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

A repaired gas turbine will be installed in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany once it is returned after maintenance, and natural gas will then be supplied in “corresponding volumes”, a Kremlin spokesman said on Monday.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stopped short of saying supply would increase, noting that further equipment needed to be repaired.

But he sounded a relatively upbeat note after weeks of uncertainty over the turbine repair in Canada, and a 10-day shutdown of Nord Stream 1 for annual maintenance, had sown doubt in Europe over whether Russia might shut the pipeline altogether, Reuters reported.

“The turbine will be installed after all the formalities are complete... And the gas will be pumped in the corresponding volumes, the volumes which are technologically possible,” Peskov told reporters.

He was commenting on a report by Kommersant newspaper that Siemens Energy, which had serviced the turbine in Canada, had handed over Canadian documentation to Gazprom which would allow its return.

The Kremlin has denied accusations by European politicians that it is using its energy leverage to “blackmail” the European Union, which together with the United States and other Western nations has imposed waves of sanctions on Moscow since it sent its army into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Gazprom resumed supplies via Nord Stream 1 last week after the 10-day maintenance break, but only at 40% of the pipeline’s capacity.

Russia has said it was forced to lower the volume of gas to that level in June because Western sanctions were delaying the return of the turbine from Canada.

European politicians have challenged that explanation, with Germany saying the turbine in question was not meant to be used until September.

Peskov said that there was more Nord Stream 1 equipment that needed repairing and Siemens Energy was aware of that.

He also said that Moscow was not interested in a complete stoppage of Russian gas supplies to Europe, which is in a rush to fill its underground storage with gas before the winter season.

Peskov said Gazprom was not to blame for the storage risks, reiterating Moscow’s line that Europeans are suffering the consequences of sanctions that they themselves imposed against Russia.



Former UK Soldier Found Guilty of Helping Iran

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
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Former UK Soldier Found Guilty of Helping Iran

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

A British soldier, whose audacious escape from a London prison spurred a dayslong search, was on Thursday found guilty of collecting sensitive information for people linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and gathering the names of special forces personnel.
Daniel Abed Khalife collected sensitive information between May 2019 and January 2022, prosecutor Mark Heywood told jurors at the start of the trial at Woolwich Crown Court.
Khalife, who was discharged from the armed forces after he was charged, was also accused of leaving a fake bomb on a desk before absconding from his barracks in January 2023.
He then escaped from London's Wandsworth prison in September 2023 while awaiting trial for the other charges, tying himself to the bottom of a delivery van.

He spent three days on the run and was ultimately nabbed on a canal path.
The 23-year-old stood trial charged with gathering information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iran – an offence under the Official Secrets Act, obtaining information likely to be useful for terrorism and a bomb hoax.
He denied all the charges, pleading guilty during his evidence to escaping from prison, and said he wanted to be a "double agent" for the British intelligence services.
Khalife said he was a patriot and that he and his family hated the Iranian government. "Me and my family are against the regime in Iran," he told the jury.
Khalife was found guilty of the charges under the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act by a jury after more than 23 hours of deliberation. He was found not guilty of perpetrating a bomb hoax.