The Kremlin is likely to keep vital gas flows to Europe at minimal levels as long as the standoff over Ukraine continues, ratcheting up the pressure on the European Union over its tough stance on Russia’s invasion, according to people familiar with the leadership’s thinking.
If the squeeze drags into the winter, it could leave the continent, traditionally Russia’s largest export market, desperately short of the fuel.
Publicly, Russia claims that technical issues like missing paperwork and turbine maintenance have forced it to slash supplies in recent weeks. But in reality, the Kremlin is using the disruptions in Nord Stream, its main remaining pipeline supplying Europe to raise the political heat on leaders there to reconsider the painful sanctions they’ve imposed and their support for Kyiv, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
