- Russia said it is essentially helpless in terms of the repairs it says the Nord Stream gas pipeline needs.
- "This situation needs a fix and Russia has a little ability to help here," the Kremlin said.
- Natural gas flows to Europe dwindled to almost nothing as Russia repeatedly cites equipment hold-ups.
Russia says it can't do much to help with repairs to the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters on Monday.
"There are malfunctions which require urgent repairs and there are certain artificial difficulties which were caused by sanctions," Peskov said.
"This situation needs a fix and Russia has a little ability to help here," he added.
Russia has been slashing flows to Europe via the key pipeline over what it has said are delays to essential repairs to equipment, which has triggered huge spikes in gas prices. Last week, it cut flows to the eurozone region to just 20%, saying a second turbine needed to be repaired.
Before that however, Russia's state-energy giant Gazprom reduced gas flows to Europe to 40% earlier due to a hold-up with a turbine that was repaired in Canada during a 10-day shutdown for annual maintenance.
The recent interruptions to gas flows have forced European leaders to draw up emergency plans as they fear Russia could permanently turn off the gas tap in retaliation to Western sanctions imposed on the country after it invaded Ukraine.
A pullback in gas flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which carries more than one-third of Russia's natural gas exports to Europe, has also added further uncertainty to European gas supplies for the upcoming winter months. Such doubt prompted the European Union to ask member countries last week to devise plans to reduce gas consumption 15% by August 1.
But even though Europe is hurting from the energy crisis, Russia is even worse off in the long run as it shifts natural gas supply chains, a new study by Yale researchers found.