Gazprom had previously dropped supply to 40% over maintenance works on the pipeline, which pumps gas from Russia to Germany, and on Monday said it would halve this amount. The pipeline was shut down completely for 10 days earlier this month.

Gazprom’s decision heightened concern that Russia will cut Europe off over the bloc’s response to the war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed on Moscow.

More than 1,200 individuals and 108 entities so far are subject to asset freezes and travel restrictions. This comes in addition to economic sanctions, targeting banks and energy imports. On 21 July, the council adopted another round of measures, such as a ban to purchase, import or transfer Russian-origin gold.

The EU’s energy ministers are due to meet on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss plans on reducing energy use by 15% between August 2022 and March next year. In case of shortages, the European Commission could trigger an alert to make this target mandatory.

Member countries would also have to submit national energy plans to the commission by the end of September and show how they are cutting back in case they want to access solidarity gas supplies from countries receiving energy from sources other than Russia.

The plans aim to ensure that Europe can get through the winter without major outages. 

Gazprom cited technical issues with one of the pipeline’s turbines as the reason for the reduction in supply, but a Germany economy spokesperson told news agency AFP that “there is no technical reason for a reduction of deliveries.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Gazprom’s move “an overt gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe.”