Europe is facing an energy crisis that has sent natural gas prices soaring more than 250 percent since January. But European Union and German regulators are not rushing to approve the recently completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline. 

The project could eventually bring an additional 55 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe but has faced pushback from the U.S. over fears that Russia could capitalize on other nations' dependency on it for energy.

Those fears appear to be coming to fruition as Russia signaled Tuesday that it would not go out of its way to supply European consumers with extra gas to ease the current energy crisis unless regulatory approval for the controversial pipeline was speeded up.

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"We cannot ride to the rescue just to compensate for mistakes that we didn't commit," said Konstantin Kosachyov, a leading pro-Kremlin legislator, in an interview obtained by Bloomberg.

"Everything on top of [existing contracts and agreements] should be a subject for additional voluntary and mutually beneficial agreements," he added.

The pipeline's operator Gazprom, a Russian state-owned energy company, announced Monday that the line could be put into operation immediately. However, it said deliveries to European nations couldn't happen until regulatory approval is granted.

Construction finished in early September, but the pipeline is still awaiting approval from Brussels and Berlin. German regulators have said their decision will follow a lengthy review by the European Commission and will likely be handed down in January.

Russia is already the largest gas supplier to the EU and is projected to gain further market share when the pipeline is opened. Nord Stream 2 will double annual delivery capabilities to more than 110 cubic meters of natural gas.

Rising energy costs have put increasing pressure on global markets in recent weeks as few industries are immune from it and the situation is forecast to get worse.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin promised in early October to boost gas shipments to Europe "by as much as our partners ask us." He also insisted that existing contracts were being "flawlessly" fulfilled. 

Current exports of gas from Russia to Europe are up compared with last winter, when lockdowns caused by the pandemic resulted in limited demand. However, current deliveries still lag pre-pandemic levels.