Photo by AFP

Russian energy giant Gazprom has cut off the natural gas supply to France for more than a month, according to France's gas operator.

Iran PressEurope: French network operator GRTgaz said on Friday that France has not received any Russian gas via Germany since May 15, citing the effects of reduced Russian supply.

Italy's energy firm Eni also said on Friday that Russian energy giant Gazprom was reducing its gas supplies to Italy by 50%. 

In recent weeks, Moscow has reduced or cut off gas deliveries to several European Union countries, which have imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Russian officials blamed maintenance issues at the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany.

Italy gets around 40% of its imported gas from Russia, though it is trying to reduce this reliance. France gets around 17% of its gas from Russia through network connections with Germany.

Previously this week, Gazprom's gas deliveries to Italy had already been reduced — 15% on Wednesday and 35% on Thursday.

Gazprom cut deliveries to Germany by more than 60% this week. The Russian state-controlled company said that supply reductions via the undersea Nord Stream 1 pipeline were due to delays in repair work by the German company Siemens. 

Nord Stream 1 is the main pipeline of Russian gas to Europe after gas flows through Ukraine were reduced amid the war. 

On Thursday, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni warned that the bloc's economy could enter into a recession if Russian gas supplies stop, but stressed that this was not the case so far.

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