The waiver which allowed the repair of gas turbines used in the Nord Stream pipeline in Montreal and their return to Germany by Canada has been revoked. In a joint statement by Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, the Canadian government announced the revocation late on Wednesday.

The announcement followed discussions between The United States, Germany, and Ukraine.

The statement read, “Canada is making this decision recognizing that the circumstances around granting the waiver have changed. It no longer serves its intended purpose.”

Earlier this year, the turbines for the Portovaya gas compression station on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, failed and required repair. The turbines, manufactured by German company Siemens Energy AG, had been serviced in Canada. However they were unable to be returned to Russia to repair the pipeline due to sanctions imposed on Russia by Canada in response to the Russian military operations in Ukraine.

Following a German request, made due to fears of a shortage of gas come the winter if the turbines were not returned, Canada issued a waiver from the sanctions allowing the shipment of the turbines. They were sent to Germany, where they were to be forwarded to Russia.

However Gazprom noted deficiencies in the paperwork regarding their shipment, and said they had worries the turbines might have been tampered with due to the anomalies in their shipment. Russia stated they worried they could have been sabotaged in such a way as to damage the Nord Stream 1 pipeline’s compressors.

The pipeline suffered additional mechanical failures which gradually reduced gas flows, until it was shut down permanently due to suspicious underseas explosions which damaged the pipelines and are now believed to have been sabotage. The perpetrators have yet to be identified. Gazprom has announced it will mothball the pipelines and compressor stations, so that if repairs are performed, the pipelines will be able to be made operational quickly.

However in a recent statement, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller has said the company may not bother to repair the damaged pipelines, since the pipeline would require the compressor station at the Portovaya station be fixed, and that would require the Siemens turbines which it cannot have serviced in Canada anymore.