The pipes have holes in them. It may never be possible to find out who did it.
Therefore - what are the implications going forward:
- can they be repaired and in what timescale
- until repaired, the world market price of gas will remain high
- until repaired, Europe will have to cope with limited supply of gas during the winter
- denial of supply can no longer be used as a threat - supply is simply not possible
- how long for alternative energy sources for Europe to come on stream (years?)
- Russian gas revenue will be diminished making funding of the war more difficult
Until now gas was an important factor in how the Ukraine conflict might be resolved. Whilst out of commission they are a non-issue.
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