Earlier this weekend, Russia’s state-controlled company Gazprom slashed its gas supplies to Europe despite Europe reeling from an energy crisis. Gazprom is the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe and Turkey. Gazprom is the largest publicly-listed natural gas company globally and the largest company in Russia by revenue.

These energy supply cuts come at a time of high tension between NATO and Russia over Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Europe had already been struggling with an energy crisis as temperatures have continued to drop. 

In France, the electricity price stood at €442.88 MWh on Monday, the highest amount in Europe and its highest price since 2009, according to Energy Live. According to the website, the energy price in France spiked by 15.9 per cent in just the last day. UK Gas prices have also soared by 520 per cent this year.

Despite the energy crisis in Europe, Gazprom has cut supplies from 27 million cubic meters Friday to 5.2 mcm and 4.7 mcm on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Gazprom also booked only minimal additional capacity on Monday’s transit route, making European gas prices increase even more.

The Yamal pipeline operates at a total capacity of 89 mcm per day, meaning flows ran at only 4% of the full capacity on Monday. 

Russia has also been accused of putting pressure on Europe by cutting gas supplies. The gas cuts come just days after the Russian foreign ministry handed over a list of proposals to NATO, demanding the alliance to reduce its influence over post-Soviet States.