"This situation is clearly serious and we need to be adequately prepared for any eventuality," EU spokesperson for energy Tim Mcphie told a news conference in Brussels. "This is a planned maintenance, which is scheduled to take place for ten days. It is a regular occurrence that you need to carry out maintenance on gas pipelines.

"We have been in a situation where we have received reduced flows of Russian gas over the course of several months. We are preparing for all scenarios in terms of gas supply," he stated.

According to media reports, Nord Stream 1's operators said it needs routine servicing but there are fears that Russia will use the opportunity to shut down the pipeline for good because of the war in Ukraine.