As fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, coveted by Moscow, the battle rages over Russian gas. If Gazprom announced that the Nord Stream gas pipeline would be “completely” stopped until the repair of a turbine, without specifying a deadline, the EU is said to be ready to resist a total cut in deliveries from the Russian gas giant.
In Zaporijia, the situation is still just as volatile and worrying. The nuclear power plant has “lost connection again” to the external electricity grid, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned on Saturday September 3. If the site continues to operate “thanks to an emergency line”, one of the reactors – number 5 – however had to be shut down.
European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni assured, Saturday, September 3, that the European Union was “well prepared” in the event of a total stoppage of Russian gas deliveries thanks to storage and energy saving measures. “We are not afraid of Putin’s decisions, we ask the Russians to respect the contracts, but if they do not, we are ready to react,” he told the press as part of the economic forum organized by The European House – Ambrosetti in Cernobbio, on Lake Como, Italy.
The Russian giant Gazprom had announced the day before that the Nord Stream gas pipeline, linking Russia to northern Germany would be “completely” stopped until the repair of a turbine, without specifying a deadline, after having initially affirmed that the conduit would be operational again in three days. If Russia uses the pretext of a breakdown, it would above all be a question, in the eyes of the West, of a response to the declarations of the G7 aimed at forcing Russia to sell oil at very low prices.
In the European Union, “gas storage is currently at around 80%, thanks to the diversification of supplies”, even if the situation differs from one country to another, indicated Paolo Gentiloni. “Gas storage today exceeds 90% (in France). We will meet our objective of filling stocks to 100% and we have accelerated the diversification of supplies”, inquired the Minister of the Economy. , Bruno Le Maire, to AFP.
Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces, has “lost connection again” to the external power grid, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including experts, said in a statement on Saturday. are on site. The last line still in operation “has been damaged”, explained the IAEA, recalling that the other three had been “lost previously during the conflict”. This incident occurred “after new bombings in the area”, according to information provided by the Ukrainian authorities to the UN body.
The site continues to operate “thanks to a help line”, said the IAEA. But “due to insufficient capacity for two reactors, reactor number 5 was shut down,” Ukrainian operator EnergoAtom said in a statement on Telegram, blaming the strikes by Russian forces.
According to a press release from British intelligence, in addition to the fatigue and the losses suffered by the Russian troops, there are moral and disciplinary problems. Main object of frustration: the question of wages. The income of Russian soldiers is based on numerous bonuses, not all of which have reportedly been paid. The British Home Office believes that dysfunctions in the “Russian military bureaucracy” and corruption could explain these shortcomings. A statement that should be taken with caution, as British intelligence is not an independent body.
Again a Turkish mediation? In a telephone interview, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “that Turkey can play a facilitating role on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, as it did on the agreement on cereals” in July, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
The Kremlin confirmed a discussion between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, indicating that they had confirmed that they wanted to “increase their economic and commercial ties”, via “joint strategic projects in the field of energy”. Turkey wants to present a proposal providing, as it did for the grain agreement, for the creation in Istanbul of an office dedicated to dialogue between international organizations, Russia and Ukraine, to find a point of agreement on the issue of technical control and inspections of the plant.
Strikes and fighting also continued elsewhere in Ukraine. In Donbass (east), coveted by Moscow and the main front line, “the Russian army is attacking in the directions of Bakhmout and Avdiïvka”, the Ukrainian army said in a statement on Saturday, also reporting “five strikes ” Ukrainian Air Force near Donetsk and Pivdenny.
In the center, Russian strikes killed a nine-year-old boy and seriously injured ten people in Zelenodolsk, in the Dnipropetrovsk region (center), according to Ukrainian authorities. They also reported “intense shelling in the Novgorod-Siversk region” (north), near the Russian border, with “more than 50 explosions”, without victims.