Russia halts gas supplies to Germany as France warns of winter rationing and power cuts

Paris mulls rationing as Europe’s energy crisis deepens

Russia has shut off the biggest gas pipeline feeding Europe for “maintenance”, in a move which will exacerbate fears in many capitals over the reliability of winter energy supplies.

The move came as France’s prime minister warned of gas rationing and rolling power cuts this winter as the consequences of the war in Ukraine meet a drop in domestic energy production.

Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it was turning off the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany for three days due to a maintenance issue, despite Germany saying there was no such issue.