Canada is looking for ways to bypass sanctions on Russia, to return a critical part of the Nord Stream pipeline to the nation, so it can resume full-level gas flows to Germany.

The critical part, a turbine, was sent to Canada for repairs before the start of the Ukraine invasion, but has since been stranded by stringent sanctions which prohibit shipping such items to German equipment supplier Siemens Energy, since they will ship it on to Russia.

In the meantime Russian state energy company Gazprom was forced to reduce the flow of gas to Germany. That has triggered an energy crisis as Germany looks to top up fuel reserves so it will have enough gas to provide heat to its population during the peak demand during the cold of winter.

Canada Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, “We want to respect the sanctions because the sanctions were put into place for a reason. That being said, the intent of the sanctions was never to cause significant pain to Germany, which is one of our closest friends and allies. So we are very seized with this issue. We are talking to Germany, trying to find a pathway through which we can actually enable the flow of gas. There may be different options that we can look at.”

Although Russia has insisted the decline in gas flows is due solely to the missing part, some in Europe have accused Russia of limiting the flow as a form of political punishment for opposing its military operation in Ukraine.