Canada said on Wednesday it would revoke a sanctions waiver that allowed turbines for Nord Stream 1, Russia’s biggest gas pipeline to Europe, to be repaired in Montreal and returned to Germany.
The pipeline under the Baltic Sea was shut down for repairs on 31 August but not restarted. It was heavily damaged a month later when it was hit by a series of explosions. European governments suspect the ruptures of the pipeline and another called Nord Stream 2 were caused by sabotage. Putin has called western claims that Russia was behind the explosions as “crazy”.
Canada’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, and natural resources minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, said in a joint statement:
Putin has been forced to show that his intention was never to return Nord Stream 1 to full operation, and that the pipeline itself has been rendered inoperable.”
The decision was made after working closely with Ukraine, Germany and other European allies, they said.