The Russian ambassador to Berlin, Sergey Nechaev, offered to operate the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as an alternative, against the backdrop of the halt in Russian gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Nechaev said - in an interview with the Russian daily "Izvestia" published today, Monday - that the line "is ready for use and filling with gas, meets the requirements, and technical checks have been conducted for it," adding that "the only thing missing is the political will of the German government," ruling out a restart. Nord Stream 1 under "current conditions".
The all-Russian state-owned "Gazprom" had halted gas shipments via "Nord Stream 1".
The company preceded this step with multiple reductions in the volume of gas imports through this pipeline, justifying this by technical problems that it claims cannot be resolved due to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously referred to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as an alternative.
In Berlin, Moscow is suspected of invoking the Nord Stream 1 disruption only in order to achieve its political goals - including the operation of Nord Stream 2 - and to relieve the pressure of sanctions.
The German government suspended approval to operate Nord Stream 2 last February, shortly before the start of the Russian offensive on Ukraine.
At the end of July, Russia reduced gas imports via Nord Stream 1, citing a defective turbine. However, there is still a turbine repaired for this line in the German city of Mulheim, which has been waiting for transportation to Russia for weeks.
Nechaev said the last remaining turbine had a technical defect because oil was leaking from it.
The ambassador rejected the statement of the German company "Siemens Energy" responsible for maintaining the turbine that the oil leakage from it is not a critical matter, describing it as "unacceptable."
"Defective systems will not be operated... Germany cannot do without Russian gas in the short term," he said.