Russia has completely shirts off gas supply to Europe via a major pipeline and says repairs are needed.
Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said the restrictions on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will last for the next three days.
Russia has already significantly reduced gas exports through the pipeline.
He denies allegations of using energy supplies as a weapon of war against Western countries.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline extends 1,200 km (745 miles) under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St. Petersburg to northeastern Germany. Opened in 2011, it can send up to 170 million cubic meters of gas per day from Russia to Germany.
The pipeline was closed for 10 days in July – again for repairs, Russia says – and recently operated at 20% capacity only due to what Russia describes as equipment failure.
The chairman of the German grid regulator said the country will be able to pull it off if Russia resumes deliveries in the coming days.
“I assume we can handle it,” Klaus Mueller told Reuters. “I am confident that Russia will return to 20% on Saturday, but no one can really tell.”
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European leaders fear that Russia may extend the outage in an attempt to raise gas prices, which have already risen significantly over the past year. Turbine dispute threatens Europe’s gas supply
The sharp rise threatens to trigger a crisis in the cost of living over the winter months, potentially forcing governments to spend billions to ease the pressure.
On Tuesday, the French Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, accused Russia “of using gas as a weapon of war”.
She spoke after Gazprom announced it would cut gas supplies to French energy company Engie.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman denied the claims, insisting Western sanctions have caused disruption by damaging Russian infrastructure. He insisted that the “technological problems” caused by the sanctions are the only thing preventing Russia from supplying gas through the pipeline, without specifying what the problems were.
The most recent controversy centers on a turbine that arrived in Germany after being repaired in Canada that Russia refused to take back, claiming it was subject to Western sanctions.
Germany, on the other hand, denies it.
Earlier this month, Economy Secretary Robert Habeck said the pipeline was fully operational and there were no technical problems, Russia said.
Earlier this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to intervene in the energy markets, stating at a conference in Slovenia that “they are no longer fit for purpose”. “We need a new electricity market model that really works and brings us back into balance,” he said.
Prior to the conflict, Germany had approved the $ 10 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which runs parallel to its namesake, but stopped operations after Russia sent troops to Ukraine in February.
reports say Russia burns gas worth an estimated $ 10 million (£ 8.4 million) every day at a factory near the Finnish border
