Canada will return remaining gas turbines covered under sanction exemption, Joly says

Foreign Affairs Minister Mlanie Joly says Canada still plans to return five turbines used in a Russian natural gas pipeline despite the fact that the company operating the pipeline refusedto accept one turbine that has been returned to Germany already.

In July, the government granted an exemption to allow six turbines to undergo maintenance in Montreal before shipping them back to Germany. The turbines would be subsequently handed over to the Russian state-owned firm Gazprom, which operates the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that provides Germany and other European countries with natural gas.

One turbine has been returned to Germany but Gazprom has refused to accept it, citing technical issues and claiming it wants further documentation showing that the equipment is not subject to Western sanctions.

The remaining five turbines have yet to be shipped to Montreal for maintenance. Despite Gazprom's refusal of the first, Joly told CBC News Network the plan is to allow the maintenance schedule to go ahead.

"That was the decision that we took," Joly told host Hannah Thibedeau on Wednesday. "That's exactly what Germany asked us."

Ukraine has criticized the federal government for agreeing to Germany's request to exempt Siemens Canada from sanctions so that it could return the turbines. UkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself saidthe Kremlin would view the move as a sign of "weakness."

The federal government has defended the move as necessary to secure gas supplies for Germany. Ottawa alsoargues the Kremlin would have exploited a refusal by Canadato return the turbine to redirect the blame for Europe'senergy shortages toward the sanctions on Russia which could undermine public support in the West for Ukraine.

Joly repeated that argument during Wednesday's interview.

"Canada doesn't want to give any form of excuse to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to continue to weaponize his flow of energy to Europe," she said.

But in an interview with the Canadian Press,Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Yulia Kovalivagain calledon Canada tocancelthesanctions waiver.

She said it's clear that Russia will not accept the turbine that Siemens has delivered to Germany, and accused Russia of using gas supplies to terrorizeEurope.

"Our position is quite clear we do think that this waiver should be cancelled and now," she said.

"If it was an argument to call Putin's bluff, everybody sees for the last few weeks it is now quite obvious that it is Russian games."

In recent months, Russia also has cut the gas flowthrough Nord Stream 1 to 20 per cent of capacity and recently announced it would shut down the line entirely for three days at the end of the month, citing the need for unscheduled maintenance.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told CBC's Power & Politics that Germany would continue to work with Canada to ensure the remaining five turbines are returned.

"I think there is political understanding that we will cooperate, that we are friends and that we will not make it feasible that the Russian game is working," Scholz told host Vassy Kapelos.

WATCH | Scholz says Germany and Canada will continue to 'cooperate' on turbines:

Chancellor says Germany and Canada will continue to 'co-operate' on turbines

2 years ago

Duration 11:13

When asked about the five remaining Nord Stream 1 turbines, Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany and Canada will continue to 'co-operate'.

Scholz was in Canada this week to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and signa "joint declaration of intent" that calls on the two countries to invest in hydrogen, establish a "transatlantic Canada-Germany supply corridor" and start exporting hydrogen by 2025.

But OrestZakydalsky of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress said the government should have usedScholz's visit as an opportunityto revoke the exemption forthe turbines.

"There is no purpose in maintaining the permit. It is disappointing to our community that Canada missed the opportunity to cancel the permit during the chancellor's visit," Zakydalsky said in a media statement.