An energy battle between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine revved up Friday with Moscow delaying the reopening of its main gas pipeline to Germany and G-7 nations announcing a price cap on Russian oil exports.
Russian energy giant Gazprom said it could not resume the supply of natural gas to Germany, just hours before it was set to restart deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Russia blamed a technical fault in the pipeline for the move, which is likely to worsen Europe's energy crisis.
European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said Friday on Twitter that Gazprom acted under "fallacious pretenses" to shut down the pipeline.
Moscow has blamed Western sanctions that took effect after Russia invaded Ukraine for hindering the maintenance of the gas pipeline. Europe accuses Russia of using its leverage over gas supplies to retaliate against European sanctions.
Also Friday, finance ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies said they would work quickly to implement a price cap on Russian oil exports.
The G-7 ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States said the amount of the price cap would be determined later "based on a range of technical inputs."
"This price cap on Russian oil exports is designed to reduce Putin's revenues, closing an important source of funding for the war of aggression," said German Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
The jockeying for control of energy supplies comes as Russian and Ukrainian forces engaged in fighting near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where U.N. inspectors are seeking to avert a potential disaster.
Ukraine's military said Friday it had carried out strikes against a Russian base in the southern town of Enerhodar, near the nuclear power plant.
Both Russia and Ukraine accuse the other of shelling near the facility. Kyiv also accuses Moscow of storing ammunition around the plant and using it as a shield for carrying out attacks, charges Russia denies.
Inspectors from the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are visiting the Zaporizhzhia plant, having braved artillery blasts to reach the facility on Thursday.
Ukraine's nuclear agency, Energoatom, on Friday accused Russia of "making every effort" to prevent the IAEA mission from learning the real situation at the facility.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Thursday, "Ukraine did everything to make this mission happen. But it is bad that the occupiers are trying to turn this IAEA mission – a really necessary one – into a fruitless tour of the plant."
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, leading the inspection group, told reporters Thursday the agency was "establishing our continued presence" at Europe's biggest nuclear facility. He said it was obvious that the "physical integrity" of the Zaporizhzhia plant "has been violated several times."
Grossi said, "I worried, I worry, and I will continue to be worried about the plant."
The Zaporizhzhia plant has been controlled by Russia since the earliest days of its invasion but is operated by Ukrainian engineers.
With the nuclear plant in a war zone, world leaders have expressed fears it could be damaged and result in a radiation disaster like that at Ukraine's Chernobyl plant in 1986.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
