Russia says it is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe pipeline

() — Russia is prepared to resume gas supplies to Europe via the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which was halted earlier for political reasons, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state news agency TASS on Sunday.

“The European market remains relevant as gas shortages persist and we have every opportunity to resume supplies. For example, the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which was halted for political reasons, remains unused,” Novak said.

There is an increase in demand for Russian gas from Europe, Novak said, according to TASS.

“Today, we can confidently say that there is a demand for our gas. For this reason, we continue to consider Europe as a potential market for the sale of our products. It is clear that a large-scale campaign was launched against us, which ended with acts of sabotage against [el gasoducto] North Stream,” he said.

Russia has been in an energy standoff with Europe since it invaded Ukraine in February.

In May, just 44 hours after Ukraine reduced the flow of natural gas through its territory to Europe, blaming interference by Russian troops, Gazprom stopped supplies through the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline that runs through Poland and stopped sending gas to a distributor in Germany. According to the state news agency RIA Novosti, Gazprom was forced to suspend supplies due to sanctions imposed on its parent company, EuRoPol GAZ.

In December, gas supplies from west to east from Germany to Poland were also temporarily halted, “dropping to zero,” TASS reports.