Canada faces a difficult choice this weekend between angering Germany and offending Ukraine as it ponders the fate of a large turbine that has been repaired at Siemens Energy Canada workshops.
The turbine normally conducts gas through the Nord Stream One pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany. Last month, while scheduled for maintenance at a Siemens Energy facility in Montreal, the turbine was hit by sanctions imposed by the Trudeau government on its owner, Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom. .
Russia responded by reducing gas flow through the pipeline by 60 percent. He has since said that unless the turbine returns on Monday, July 11, it will not restore normal flow.
This poses a serious problem for the German government, which is struggling to fill the country’s storage depots to spend the coming winter. Some other European countries, such as Italy, face similar problems.
On Friday, Germany began rationing hot water, dimming street lights and closing swimming pools as it faces the prospect of an energy shortage that could leave its people shaking and its businesses closed this year. winter.
Germany calls for “heavy heart”
Robert Habeck, Germany’s finance minister and vice chancellor, has acknowledged that his country made a “serious mistake” when it was allowed to depend so much on Russian energy. But Habeck said Berlin now has no choice but to ask Canada to lift its sanctions and return the turbine.
“It’s with a heavy heart that we had to ask for this,” he told Bloomberg News.
“If it’s a legal issue for Canada, I want to make it clear that I’m not asking them to take him to Russia, but to take him to Germany.”
The German government acknowledges that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be using the turbine as a pretext to blackmail energy. (Gleb Garanich / Sputnik / AFP / Getty Images)
Habeck acknowledged that the turbine may simply be a pretext that Russian President Vladimir Putin uses to blackmail Germany with energy shortages. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has openly said the same thing. But Habeck said Germany still wants the turbine to put that theory to the test.
“If we want to get this way out of the excuses [Putin]“I urge the Canadian government not to wait too long and make the decision before the maintenance period begins,” he said Monday. “Otherwise, I’m pretty sure Putin will find a political problem going on.”
Siemens Energy says sanctions remain in place
It was reported from Berlin on Friday that Canada had already decided to accede to Germany’s request.
CBC News asked a Siemens Energy Canada spokesperson about these reports. “This is the first time I’ve heard of it,” Ann Adair said.
“No change,” he added. “We’re still sticking to sanctions.”
Adair also said that just delivering the turbine to Germany instead of Gazprom would not be enough to avoid sanctions. He said Siemens would expect to see the matter dealt with through a formal exemption from sanctions, justified on humanitarian grounds by Germany’s energy needs.
Federal Minister for Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said on Friday that “it is not easy and we have not made any decision, but we are certainly talking to our friends, Ukraine and Germany.”
Kyiv in Canada: do not give up
Canada is receiving pressure from both Berlin and Kyiv. The Ukrainian embassy in Canada issued a statement on Friday stating that “we are aware of the Canada-Germany dialogue on the Siemens turbine and hope that the Canadian government will ensure the full integrity of the current sanctions regime.”
The government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been severely critical of Germany, accusing it of relying too much on Russian energy and too lukewarm in its support for Ukraine. It has been bitterly complained that since Russia invaded its territory on February 24, Europe has sent Russia much more money in energy payments than it has given to Ukraine to spend on its defense.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky watches Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greet an unidentified Ukrainian soldier as the two leaders arrive for a joint press conference in Kyiv on May 8th. (Sergei Supinsky / AFP / Getty Images)
Ukraine wants to cut Russia’s energy exports to Europe to reduce what it considers the Kremlin’s power over governments like Germany’s. He would consider the return of the turbine and the restoration of normal flow to the North Stream One as actions that strengthen the Kremlin’s grip.
Diaspora pressures
The Ukrainian Ukrainian Congress on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of his cabinet to tell him that the fate of the turbine is “proof of the Canadian government’s determination to maintain sanctions and continue to isolate Russia.”
The letter notes that the German government itself has acknowledged that demands for the return of the turbine may simply be a maneuver to justify a decision already taken by the Kremlin.
“The Russian Federation is once again using energy as a weapon to sow discord among Ukraine’s allies,” UCC President Alexandra Chyczij wrote. “It is also clear that Russia is looking to set a precedent for the exemption of sanctions which will then be used to extract more exemptions from sanctions and to undermine Western unity.
“Any waiver of Canadian sanctions would be seen as a capitulation to Russian blackmail and energy terrorism. [It] it will only serve to embolden the Russian terrorist state, with negative and far-reaching consequences not only for Ukraine or the European Union, but also for Canadian security. “
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson: “The aim of the sanctions was not to penalize our ally, Germany.” (Justin Tang / The Canadian Press)
Wilkinson seemed well aware of pressure from both sides when he spoke to CBC News on Friday.
“We must be sensitive, no doubt, to the plight of the Ukrainians and the terrible suffering that is happening in Ukraine,” he said.
“We must also be sensitive to the very legitimate economic concerns of the Germans, who are worried, to be honest with you, about not having fuel to heat their houses in the winter and not having fuel to be able to run the industrial parts. of their economy, which would be a disaster for all of Europe if that happened.
“This pipeline supplies gas not only to Germany, but to many other European countries. And the Russian government is using the turbine as an excuse to reduce gas flows to Germany and others.”
Wilkinson said Canada continues to “absolutely support the sanctions that we and others have put in place to try to ensure that Russia pays a price and will eventually withdraw.”
“But the aim of the sanctions was not to penalize our ally, Germany. It was not to try to collapse the economy of Germany and Italy and Slovakia and Austria. And so we are working to try to find a solution that works for everyone. .. “