Europe has been advised to prepare for winter without Russian gas.

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, has advised Europe to prepare urgently in anticipation of Russia to completely cutting off gas supplies in the winter. According to Birol, Russia has recently resorted to reducing gas supplies to prevent European countries from filling their gas storage facilities and increasing their leverage in the winter months. The head of the IEA called on governments to take measures to decrease gas demand and maintain the operation of old nuclear power plants, which are planned to be shut down. “Emergency measures taken by European countries this week to reduce gas demand, such as the launch of old coal-fired power plants, have been justified by the scale of the crisis, despite fears of rising carbon emissions,” Birol added.