Live updates: Russia’s war in Ukraine

Russia is prepared to resume gas supplies to Europe via the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which was previously stopped for political reasons, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian state news agency TASS on Sunday.

“The European market remains relevant, as the gas shortage persists, and we have every opportunity to resume supplies. For example, the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which was stopped for political reasons, remains unused,” Novak said.

There is an increase in demand for gas from Europe, Novak said, according to TASS.

“Today, we can confidently say that there is a demand for our gas. Therefore, we continue to consider Europe as a potential market for the sale of our products. It is clear that a large-scale campaign was launched against us, which ended with acts of sabotage against Nord Stream,” he said.

More background: Russia has been in an energy standoff with Europe since it invaded Ukraine in February.

In May, only 44 hours after Ukraine reduced the flow of natural gas across its territory into Europe, blaming interference by Russian troops, Gazprom stopped supplies through the Yamal-Europe pipeline running across Poland, and stopped sending gas to a distributor in Germany. Gazprom was forced to suspend supplies due to sanctions on its parent company EuRoPol GAZ, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.

In December, the West to East gas supply from Germany to Poland was also temporarily halted, “falling to zero,” TASS reports.