Conflicts!

As the temperature gradually dropped in winter, the scene that Europeans least wanted to see happened: on the 21st local time, the natural gas supply of "Yamal-Europe", one of Russia's main natural gas pipelines to Europe, fell to zero
.

The news was also confirmed by German gas transmission system operator Gascade
.
Gascade said on the 21st that the delivery of natural gas to Germany through the "Yamal-Europe" pipeline on that day had been zero, meaning that gas transmission from the east of Germany had completely stalled
.

Temperatures have hit freezing points in many parts of Europe this week
.
Russia's "cutoff" of natural gas supply to Europe has further boosted the price of natural gas in Europe
.
On the 21st, the price of natural gas in Europe exceeded $1,800 per thousand cubic meters for the first time since the beginning of October
.

Regarding the "cutoff", Russian government spokesman Peskov responded: "This is not a political act, and has nothing to do with the 'Nord Stream 2' project of another Russian-European gas pipeline that has been suspended for review
.
"

Priority to ensure supply in Russia

Peskov further explained on the 21st that the Russian side's reduction of the pipeline's gas supply to zero this time is entirely a commercial act, "for specific reasons, you can ask Gazprom
.
"

Russia is Europe's largest supplier of natural gas, with multiple natural gas pipelines leading to Europe
.
As the operator of the pipeline, every year Gazprom (hereinafter referred to as "Gazprom") will comprehensively consider the supply volume based on many factors such as domestic demand in Russia
.

In mid-October, when natural gas prices in Europe peaked, Gazprom said it would give priority to ensuring domestic gas supplies in Russia this winter
.
This week, affected by a strong cold air in the direction of Siberia, the temperature in many parts of Russia plunged sharply
.
The weather forecast on the 22nd shows that the minimum temperature in Moscow is minus 20 degrees Celsius, and the maximum is only minus 16 degrees Celsius
.

Ronald Smith, senior analyst of oil and gas resources at BCS, a Moscow-based financial institution, also agreed with Gazprom's view, saying that the "cut of supply" was more of Gazprom's consideration of prioritizing domestic supply and surviving this cold wave
.

In fact, this "cut off" did not happen overnight
.
Gascade said it found the pipeline was running at just 6% of its normal capacity since Saturday, and it was lowered to 5% of its normal capacity last Sunday
.

Monitoring data from Gascade show that traffic at the Mallnow metering point on the German-Polish border fell from an average of 10 million kWh on Friday to 1,217,400 kWh over the weekend before the complete shutdown on Tuesday.

.

Among the natural gas pipelines from Russia to Europe, although the “Yamal-Europe” pipeline, which has suspended gas supply this time, has not received as much attention as the “Beixi No.
2”, it has undertaken nearly the same amount of natural gas obtained by Europe from Russia.
20% of the gas delivery volume
.

The "Yamal-Europe" natural gas pipeline starts from the Yamal region in Russia and is located in the Arctic Circle, with a total length of 4,107 kilometers, and enters Poland and Germany in Europe through Belarus
.
This natural gas pipeline was completed in 1994
.
The length of the pipeline in Belarus is about 575 kilometers
.
In 2006, the pipeline reached its design capacity for natural gas transportation of 32.
9 billion cubic meters for the first time
.

What about Europe?

In response to the sudden cut-off of natural gas supply during the severe winter, the European side was "infuriated", accusing Russia of taking this as a threat and demanding the release of the previously shelved "North Stream 2" project
.
Ukraine has also joined the European camp, accusing Russia of gradually reducing the supply of natural gas through the Ukrainian pipeline, believing that Russia is using this to "blackmail" Europe and approve the "Nord Stream 2" project as soon as possible
.
In this regard, the Russian side has repeatedly denied that there is a connection between the two pipelines, and Gazprom has also emphasized that it fully fulfills its obligations under the contract
.

For Europe, the advantage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is that it bypasses Eastern Europe and sends gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea
.
In terms of mileage alone, this route can save nearly 2,000 kilometers compared to the gas pipeline passing through Ukraine
.
Once the full line is opened, Russia can provide an additional 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the EU each year
.
This is undoubtedly a big plus for Europe, which is currently in a tight supply of natural gas
.
The "Beixi No.
2", which was originally planned to be ventilated before the end of the year, was stuck in the review link of the German regulatory agency at the last moment
.
At present, the new German government has not given a clear position on the official suspension of the operation of the pipeline
.

Just a week before Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe, the new German government expelled two Russian diplomats
.
Even when the West fought a "diplomatic war" with Russia in 2018, the then German Merkel government did not expel Russian diplomats
.

On December 20, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared two German diplomats "persona non grata" in response to Germany's expulsion of two Russian embassy staff in Berlin
.

Russian media believe that when the weather is getting cold, the wind is weakening, and France and Germany have announced the gradual shutdown of nuclear power production, the accusations made out of nothing in Europe will further boost the already expensive natural gas prices, and the European energy crisis will be destined to worsen
.