Russian gas cut to Europe hits economic hopes after Ukraine grain deal
By Pavel Polityuk and Max Hunder
KYIV (Reuters) -Russia will further cut gas supplies to Europe in a blow to countries that have supported Kyiv just as there was hope on Monday that Ukraine's blocked grain exports would resume this week.
Despite a weekend air strike, the first ships from Ukraine's Black Sea ports may set sail in days under a deal agreed on Friday, the United Nations said. This would help ease an international food crisis, although mistrust and potential danger remained.
Soaring energy costs and fears of famine in parts of the world show how the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two, now in its sixth month and with no resolution in sight, is having an impact far from Ukraine.
On the frontlines, the Ukrainian military reported widespread Russian artillery barrages in the east overnight and said Moscow's troops were preparing for a new assault on Bakhmut, a city in the industrial Donbas region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West earlier this month that sanctions risked triggering huge global energy price rises.
On Monday, Russian energy giant Gazprom, citing instructions from an industry watchdog, said gas flows to Germany through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would fall to 33 million cubic metres per day from Wednesday.
That is half of the current flows, which are already only 40% of normal capacity. Prior to the war, Europe imported about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia.
The Kremlin says the gas disruption is the result of maintenance issues and Western sanctions, while the European Union has accused Russia of resorting to energy blackmail.
Germany said it saw no technical reason for the latest reduction.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that the Kremlin was waging an "open gas war" against a united Europe.
Politicians in Europe have repeatedly said Russia could cut off gas this winter, a step that would thrust Germany into recession and lead to soaring prices for consumers already faced with painfully high energy costs.
Moscow says it is not interested in a complete stoppage of gas supplies to Europe.
GRAIN SHIPS
Rising energy prices and a global wheat shortage are among the most far-reaching effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, threatening millions in poorer countries with hunger.
Before the invasion and subsequent sanctions, Russia and Ukraine accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.
Officials from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations agreed on Friday there would be no attacks on merchant ships moving through the Black Sea to Turkey's Bosphorus Strait and on to markets.