Russia stopped Russian gas supplies through a major pipeline to Europe on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, intensifying the economic battle between Moscow and Brussels and raising the prospects of recession and energy rationing in some of the region's richest countries.

The announcement came coinciding with a German-Spanish summit held yesterday, Tuesday, August 30, in Berlin, where Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez discussed with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz national security and ways to deal with the energy crisis facing the European Union and finding alternatives to Russian gas.

Russian gas supplies stopped for 3 days

The cut-off of flows through Nord Stream 1 is for maintenance, meaning no gas will flow to Germany from August 31 until September 3, according to the Russian energy giant Gazprom.

European governments fear that Moscow will extend the cut as a response to Western sanctions imposed on it due to the invasion of Ukraine, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of using Russian gas supplies "as a weapon of war," which Moscow denies.

Increasing restrictions on European gas supplies would exacerbate the energy crisis that has already led to wholesale gas prices rising more than 400 percent since last August, causing a painful cost-of-living crisis for consumers and increased costs for companies, and forcing governments to spend billions to alleviate the burden.