Russia has completely stopped gas supplies to Europe via a major pipeline, saying repairs are needed.

Russia has completely stopped gas supplies to Europe via a major pipeline, saying repairs are needed.

The Russian state-owned energy giant, Gazprom, said the restrictions on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would last for the next three days after they had already significantly reduced gas exports via the pipeline.

It denies accusations it has used energy supplies as a weapon of war against Western countries.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline stretches 745 miles under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St Petersburg to north-eastern Germany and can send a maximum of 170 million cubic meters of gas per day from Russia to Germany.