Energy war as West caps Russian oil price, Moscow keeps gas pipe shut
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[September 03, 2022]
By Tom Balmforth
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (Reuters) -Rich
countries agreed on Friday to try to cap the global price of Russian
oil, while Russia delayed the re-opening of its main gas pipeline to
Germany, as both sides raised the stakes in an energy war between Moscow
and the West over Ukraine.
Russia's state-controlled energy giant Gazprom blamed a technical fault
in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. But the high-level manoeuvres in energy
politics underlined the pervasive impact of the conflict, far beyond
Ukraine's borders.
The announcements came as Moscow and Kyiv traded blame over their
actions on one of the war's most dangerous frontlines - the
Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where U.N. inspectors
arrived a day earlier on a mission to help avert a catastrophe.
Gazprom said it could no longer provide a timeframe for restarting
deliveries through the pipeline, an announcement that will deepen
Europe's difficulties securing fuel for winter at a time when it faces
an energy-driven surge in living costs.
Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea to supply Germany and
others, had been due to resume operating after a three-day halt for
maintenance on Saturday at 0100 GMT.
Moscow has blamed sanctions, imposed by the West after Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, for hampering routine operations and maintenance of Nord
Stream 1. Brussels and Washington accuse Russia of using gas as an
economic weapon.
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The United States said it has been collaborating with Europe to ensure
sufficient supplies are available for winter.
Earlier on Friday, finance ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy
democracies - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the
United States - said a cap on the price of Russian oil was meant to
"reduce ... Russia’s ability to fund its war of aggression whilst
limiting the impact of Russia’s war on global energy prices" which have
soared.
The Kremlin - which calls the conflict "a special military operation" -
said it would stop selling oil to any countries that implemented the
cap.
NUCLEAR FEARS
The six-month-old Ukraine conflict has killed thousands and reduced
cities to rubble. In recent weeks fears have grown over a potential
disaster at Zaporizhzhia, Europe's biggest nuclear power plant.
Inspectors from the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency team, led by
its chief Rafael Grossi, braved intense shelling to reach the site on
Thursday.
Grossi, after returning to Ukrainian-held territory, said the physical
integrity of the plant had been violated several times. On Friday he
said he said he expects to produce a report early next week, and two
IAEA experts would stay on at the plant for the longer term.
The site sits on the south bank of a huge reservoir on the Dnipro River,
10 km (6 miles) across the water from Ukrainian positions.
Both sides have accused the other of shelling near the facility which is
still operated by Ukrainian staff and supplies more than a fifth of
Ukraine's electricity in peacetime. Kyiv also accuses Russia of using it
to shield its weapons, which Moscow denies. Russia has so far resisted
international calls to pull troops out of the plant and demilitarise the
area.
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![](../images/090322PIX/news_f39.jpg)
View towards Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea
pipeline and the transfer station of the Baltic Sea Pipeline Link in
the industrial area of Lubmin, Germany, August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi
Niesner
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Ukraine's state nuclear company said Russia had barred the IAEA team
from the plant's crisis centre, where Kyiv says Russian troops are
stationed, and that would make it difficult to make an impartial
assessment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the IAEA team to go
further, despite the difficulties met.
"Unfortunately we haven't heard the main thing from the IAEA, which
is the call for Russia to demilitarise the station," Zelenskiy said
in a video streamed to a forum in Italy.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Ukraine was continuing
to use weapons from its Western allies to shell the plant, raising
the risk of a nuclear catastrophe. He rejected assertions by Kyiv
and the West that Russia had deployed heavy weapons at the plant.
Several towns near the plant came under Russian shelling on
Thursday, Zaporizhzhia regional council mayor Mykola Lukashuk said.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm this.
A reactor at the site was reconnected to Ukraine's grid on Friday, a
day after it shut down due to shelling near the site, Energoatom
said.
COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
Ukraine started an offensive this week to recapture territory in
southern Ukraine, mainly further down the Dnipro in neighbouring
Kherson province.
Both sides have claimed battlefield successes in the initial days of
what Ukrainians bill as a potential turning point in the war,
although details have been scarce so far, with Ukrainian officials
releasing little information.
Ukraine's southern command spokesperson, Natalia Humeniuk, said on
Friday Ukrainian troops had destroyed ammunition depots and pontoon
bridges to hamper movement of Russian reserves.
"Our successes are convincing and soon we will be able to disclose
more information," she said.
Moscow has denied reports of Ukrainian progress and said its troops
had routed Ukrainian forces.
Reuters could not independently verify those claims.
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Ukraine's general staff on Friday said Russian forces had shelled
dozens of cities and towns including Kharkiv - Ukraine's second
largest city - in the north and in Donetsk region in the east.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, and by Reuters
bureaux; Writing by Stephen Coates, Angus MacSwan and Andrew
Heavens; Editing by Nick Macfie, Peter Graff and Lisa Shumaker)
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