Russian gas giant Gazprom said Monday it was cutting daily gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 33 million cubic metres starting Wednesday.

That would correspond to 20% of the pipeline's capacity. The current flow of gas into Germany is only at 40%.

Nord Steam 1 begins north of Saint Petersburg in Russia and ends at a station near Greifswald on Germany's northern Baltic Sea coast.

The company said it was halting the operation of another turbine due to the "technical condition of the engine".

The full capacity of Nord Stream 1 is over 160 cubic meters of gas exported daily. Stopping the turbine will result in reduced capacity of 33 million cubic meters. Gazprom said the production capacity is to be reduced at Russia's Portovaya compressor station.

Germany's Ministry for Economic Affairs said there was "no technical reason" for the gas delivery cut, AFP news agency reported a government spokesperson as saying.

Russia's energy standoff with Europe

Gazprom only resumed gas deliveries via the pipeline last week after it was shut down for 10 days of scheduled work.

The new blow to supply comes as politicians in Europe have repeatedly warned that Russia could cut off gas flows this winter.

Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas, has previously accused the Kremlin of using energy as a "weapon."

"Moscow is not shying away from using grain and energy deliveries as a weapon. We have to be resolute in protecting ourselves," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters last week.

On Monday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said EU nations that have gas supplies independent of Russia need to demonstrate solidarity with countries forced to ration gas this coming winter.

Von der Leyen told German news agency dpa, "Even member states that hardly purchase any Russian gas cannot escape the effects of a potential supply stop on our internal market."