Russia’s war in Ukraine

Ukraine will suspend some of the Russian gas exports to Europe that flow in pipelines through the country due to interruptions at key transit points, the country’s gas transmission system operator (GSTOU) said in a statement Tuesday. 

Amid Russia’s invasion, Ukraine has continued its operations transporting Russian gas through the country. 

But GSTOU said it’s currently “impossible to fulfill obligations” to European partners due to “the interference of the occupying forces.” It said Russia’s interference, including the unauthorized gas offtakes, had “endangered the stability and safety” of the Ukrainian gas transportation system.

As a result, it had decided to suspend operations from 7 a.m. local time on Wednesday at the entry point gas measuring station Sokhranivka and border compressor station Novopskov through which almost a third of gas from Russia to Europe — up to 32.6 million cubic meters per day — is transited.

Ukraine said it could possibly transfer temporarily unavailable capacity from Sokhranivka to the Sudzha point located in the territory controlled by Ukraine. 

However, Russia’s state energy company Gazprom said it was “technologically impossible” to switch gas transfers to Ukraine to a new entry point, the agency said in a statement.

The Kremlin’s response: The Russian government responded Wednesday to Ukraine’s suspension of some Russian gas exports to Europe, saying Russia always fulfilled and plans to fulfill its contractual obligations on gas supplies. 

“Russia has always reliably fulfilled and intends to fulfill its contractual obligations,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. 

Peskov reiterated Russia’s state gas company Gazprom’s official line claiming there were no “force majeure” events that could affect its gas supplies.

Force majeure is “a provision in a contract that frees both parties from obligation if an extraordinary event directly prevents one or both parties from performing,” according to Cornell Law.

“The Ukrainian side reported certain conditions of force majeure. We’ve heard statements from Gazprom that there were no explanations for force majeure,” he added.

CNN’s Anna Chernova contributed reporting to this post.