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Gas receiving station of the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1: Gazprom wants to reduce the gas volume this Wednesday from 40 percent to 20 percent of the maximum capacity
Photo: Jens Büttner / dpa
After the announced further throttling of Russian gas supplies to Germany, Economics Minister Robert Habeck once again emphasized the seriousness of the situation.
“We're in a serious situation.
It's about time that everyone understood that," he said on Monday evening in the ARD "Tagesthemen".
Germany must bring gas consumption down.
"We're working on that."
The measures would have to be implemented consistently, said Habeck.
The country must stand together and say: "Yes, Putin has the gas, but we have the power."
Only six days after the gas supply from Russia was resumed through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the supply volume is to be halved.
The Russian company Gazprom wants to reduce the gas volume this Wednesday from 40 percent to 20 percent of maximum capacity, as the company announced on Monday.
Only 33 million cubic meters of gas should then flow through the most important supply pipeline to Germany every day.
The reason was the repair of another turbine, it said.
Habeck describes the reference to turbines as "farce stories" that simply weren't true.
The most recent throttling is "no surprise, although it's annoying that Gazprom has other reasons."
He also complained that "they don't even have the guts to say we're in an economic war with you."
Habeck accused Vladimir Putin of playing a "perfidious game".
The Kremlin chief's strategy is transparent: "He's trying to weaken the great support for Ukraine and drive a wedge into our society.
In return, it fuels uncertainty and drives up prices.
We oppose this with unity and focused action.
We take precautions so that we can get through the winter.«
Zelenskyy: "This is an open gas war"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sees a form of Moscow's "terror" against the West in the further throttling of Russian gas supplies to Europe.
"And this is an open gas war that Russia is unleashing against a united Europe," said Zelenskyj in his evening video message on Monday.
Russia is deliberately making it difficult for Europe to prepare for the winter.
The country is showing once again that it is not interested in the fate of the people.
By blocking Ukrainian grain exports, Russia is making people starve, suffer from cold, poverty and occupation.
aar/dpa