Canada's agreed delivery of gas turbine to Germany

Canada's agreed delivery of gas turbine to Germany thwarted Putin's strategy to divide West, leaders say

From CNN’s Inke Kappeler in Berlin

Russia's efforts to weaponize energy policy have backfired as Canada agreed to deliver a key gas turbine set for use in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that supplies natural gas to Germany, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.

"This was an important decision because it exposed (Russian President) Putin's strategy, which is aimed at dividing allies, which is aimed at affecting support for Ukraine, and if we stick together, then we can exclude exactly that,“ German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.

“Russia is no longer a reliable business partner,“ Scholz said. “It has reduced gas supplies all over Europe, always citing technical reasons that never existed. And that's why it's important that we don't fall into Putin's trap and stick together and stand together," he added.

Europe and Germany will continue to be reliant for the coming year or two on Russian imports, specifically on gas, Trudeau said. The Canadian Prime Minister rejected Russia's efforts to blame Canada. “What we have done by returning that turbine is remove the excuse that Russia had to blame anyone else for their decision to weaponize energy policy,“ the Canadian Prime Minister made clear.

“What Russia's goal is, is not to just create division amongst countries that are steadfast in their support for Ukraine, but undermine public support for the strong stands that our countries have taken in support of Ukraine. And in that we chose to take the difficult decision in returning those turbines because we do not want division in our steadfast support for Ukraine or a lack of the political support in our democracies for doing the right things,“ Trudeau said.

Some more context: The turbine is in Germany waiting to be deployed, according to Scholz. Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom had substantially reduced gas deliveries to Germany in July saying that a faulty gas turbine needed maintenance. In spite having resumed gas deliveries at 20 percent of maximum capacity, Gazprom has announced further maintenance at the end of August leading to another suspension of gas deliveries.

Germany is trying to fill its storage facilities as far as possible with austerity measures in preparation for the coming winter.

Trudeau said that Ukraine was not only “fighting for itself,“ but were also “fighting for the rest of us, for the values that underpin democracies.“

“And that's why we are unequivocal that Putin must not win. We will continue to be there, to stand up for our democracies,“ Trudeau promised, even if it was “causing hardship around the world, hardship for us.“ But Putin had to be held accountable for this hardship because it was caused by Vladimir Putin himself, Trudeau said.