A ceiling on the price of gas from Russia. “The time has come” said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, immediate reply from the Vice President of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, who warns: Russian gas “will not exist in Europe if EU will decide to introduce a price cap “. Meanwhile, Gazprom, which has identified some oil leaks during maintenance work at the Portovaya compressor station, has announced the suspension of liquefied gas pumping activities at the start of the Nordstream 1 pipeline that transports underwater gas to Germany. Read also Von der Leyen The time has come to establish a ceiling on the price of gas that arrives from Russia, via pipeline, to Europe. This was underlined by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressing the need to counter what she referred to as the attempts of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to manipulate the European energy market. “I firmly believe that the time has come to set a ceiling on the price of Russian gas to Europe,” von der Leyen told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of Conservative MPs in the city of Murnau, Bavaria. Medvedev Russian gas “will not exist in Europe if the EU decides to introduce a price cap”. This was stated by the vice-president of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on the appeal of the president of the European Commission von der Leyen. “It will be like with oil. There will simply be no Russian gas in Europe,” Medvedev warned. Gazprom Russian energy giant Gazprom has announced the suspension of liquefied gas pumping operations at the Portovaya plant, north-west of St. Petersburg, at the start of the Nordstream 1 pipeline that transports undersea gas to Germany. A note states that an oil leak has been revealed at the north turbine of the Portovaya station and therefore cannot operate safely due to the damage suffered. For this reason, the text continues without indicating a reopening date, the station will remain closed until the necessary repairs are carried out, according to the comment of the European Commission, which accused the Russian state energy company Gazprom of interrupting the flow of gas with false pretexts. “Gazprom’s announcement this afternoon that it will once again shut down” the Nord Stream 1 pipeline “under false pretexts is further confirmation of its unreliability as a supplier,” a spokesperson said on Twitter. This new stop – he added – “is also a proof of Russia’s cynicism, as it prefers to burn gas rather than honor contracts”. Germany “The situation on the gas market is tense, but the security of supply is guaranteed”, reads a note from the German Ministry of Economy after Gazprom’s announcement. ” We do not comment on it in substance, but in recent weeks we have already seen Russia’s unreliability and consequently we have steadfastly and consistently continued our measures to strengthen our independence from Russian energy imports ”. So, Berlin stressed, ” the result is that we are much better equipped than a few months ago. ” The oil leak reported by Gazprom does not constitute a technical reason for disrupting Nord Stream 1 according to Siemens Energy: ‘ ‘Such leaks do not normally prevent turbine operation and can be sealed in place. It is a routine procedure that is part of maintenance work. ” A note states that ” in the past similar losses had not led to the interruption of operations. Siemens Energy has not currently been commissioned to conduct maintenance work, but we are waiting. ” Furthermore ” apart from that, we have already said in the past that there are other turbines at the Portovaya compressor capable of running Nord Stream 1 ”. Peskov In the morning it was Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov who warned that the full resumption of export activities in Europe from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was at risk, because only one turbine was operating in the main station. “There is only one turbine that works. You do the calculations,” he said, explaining that there is no spare equipment to replace those that are out of service. Peskov had previously indicated Western sanctions as a cause of impeding the maintenance of the pipeline . ” It is not Gazprom’s fault ”, he added, but ” the operation ” of the gas pipeline which was supposed to resume exporting gas to Germany at 4 am tomorrow morning is in danger.