Russia's Gazprom declares force majeure on some gas supplies to Europe

Reuters writes about this. 

The publication received a letter from Gazprom dated July 14 to one of its European clients.

"The letter said Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, could not fulfil its supply obligations because of "extraordinary" circumstances", Reuters writes. 

According to the British news agency, the letter 

said the force majeure clause, invoked to lift a business from contractual obligations because of factors beyond its control, was retroactively effective from deliveries starting from June 14. 

It is also noted that this is the main supply route of the Nord Stream-1 gas pipeline to Germany and beyond.

"This measure is likely to lead to an escalation of tensions between Russia and the West over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation"", Reuters emphasizes.

Gazprom has not commented on this information yet.