Ukraine war: Germany fears Russia gas cut as supplies halted

Russian gas supplies to Germany via the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 have been halted for 10 days.

The pipeline's Russian-backed operators say the move is because of annual maintenance work.

But German ministers believe the shutdown is politically motivated to put pressure on Berlin.

Last month, German economy minister Robert Habeck said Russian President Vladimir Putin was using gas "as a weapon" in response to EU sanctions.

Germany's government is worried that supplies could be reduced or cut permanently.

The pipeline shutdown is also affecting Italy, where energy group Eni said it would receive about a third less gas from Russia's Gazprom on Monday compared with average volumes supplied over the past few days.

The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, has warned that Russia may cut off gas supplies to Europe entirely and that Europe needs to prepare now.

Russia has already cut gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland over their refusal to comply with a new payment scheme.

But if Russian supplies were suddenly cut overnight, this could tip Germany into a major recession, because entire industries rely on gas and most German homes use it for heating.