Ottawa revokes sanctions waiver on Nord Stream gas turbines
Waiver initially was granted at Germany's request; the pipeline has since been damaged
The federal government has revoked a sanctions waiver on turbines used to pump natural gas from Russia to Germany via the Nord Stream One pipeline.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced the decision in a joint statement on Wednesday.
"Canada is making this decision recognizing that the circumstances around granting the waiver have changed, it no longer serves its intended purpose," the statement said.
The news was first reported by Bloomberg.
The turbines — which were scheduled for maintenance in Montreal — were initially caught under sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
But Canada waived the sanctions under pressure from Germany after Russia began scaling back the flow of gas through the Nord Stream pipeline.
The sanctions waiver prompted a furious reaction from Ukraine, which accused Canada and Germany of caving in to Moscow's energy blackmail. Natural gas exports are a major source of funds fuelling Russia's war machine.
Russia originally claimed that the slackening flow through Nord Stream was due to the turbines not being maintained.
One turbine was returned to Germany earlier this year, but Gazprom refused to accept it. Joly later said Canada would return the remaining five turbines.
In September, parts of the pipeline under the Baltic Sea started to leak following what are believed to be deliberate explosions.
Joly and Wilkinson pointed to the pipeline now being inoperable as a reason for their decision.
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With files from Thomson Reuters