BERLIN—Russian natural gas began flowing again at a reduced volume through a critical pipeline into Europe on Thursday, according to its operator, buying time for governments to decouple from the Kremlin’s exports amid what they expect will be an increasingly unreliable supply of energy from Moscow heading into the winter.
The Nord Stream pipeline connecting Russia with Germany under the Baltic Sea resumed operation after its annual maintenance, ending 10 days of tense speculation about whether President Vladimir Putin’s regime would cut off the gas flow to Europe in retaliation for Western sanctions after his invasion of Ukraine.
