Russian ambassador insists it is a reliable supplier of energy as it cuts off gas to Europe, plunging the continent into economic crisis

• Russia cut off gas flows to Europe last week, and Germany's leader called it an unreliable supplier.
• A Russian ambassador said "inappropriate" to question "the reliability of Russia as a supplier."

A Russian ambassador insisted that his country was a reliable energy supplier days after it cut off natural-gas flows to Europe.

The ambassador reacted after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday that Russia was to blame for rising energy prices in Germany, and said Russia is "no longer a reliable energy supplier."

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, then responded on Twitter: "Have there ever been signs that Russia was an unreliable energy supplier, including in last decade? Provide examples. As far as the current situation is concerned, it is not Russia who started to undermine normal trade and economic relations, including in the field of energy."

He then said in another tweet that he would not question how Germany decides to "choose or change" where it gets its energy, but said that it could not be argued it was because Russia was not a reliable supplier.

It is absolutely inappropriate to try to justify the relevant politically (not commercially) motivated decisions by questioning the reliability of Russia as a supplier," he tweeted.

Russia last Friday announced that it was halting the flow of natural gas to Europe indefinitely after it closed the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for maintenance on Wednesday, citing a fault. The pipeline runs from western Russia to Germany.

Russia had already significantly reduced the flow of natural gas through the pipeline, to just 20% of capacity. Russia reduced its energy exports to Europe in response to sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

This means energy prices have soared in Europe.

The euro dropped below $0.99 for the first time in 20 years on Monday after Russia stopped gas flows on Friday, which creates a bigger risk of a deep European recession, Insider's Harry Robertson reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Europe was to blame for the fault in the pipeline, because its sanctions meant proper maintenance did not take place.