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Germany has accused Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom of attempting to push up energy prices by sharply reducing supplies, BBC reported.

Gazprom said it was limiting the amount of gas to Germany to under 70m cubic metres per day - well under half the current rate. 

The reason it gave was to service equipment in the Nord Stream pipeline.

But German economy minister Robert Habeck said it was "a political decision" and not a technical one.

"It is obviously a strategy to unsettle and drive up prices."

Gazprom said initially on Tuesday it was cutting the Nord Stream 1 gas flow from 167m cubic metres a day to 100m but then on Wednesday announced it would be cut further to 67m cubic metres. 

Gazprom also reduced its gas supply to Italy by around 15% on Wednesday, energy firm ENI said. Italy, like Germany, is heavily reliant on Russian gas, which accounts for 40% of its imports, according BBC reported.

The Russian company's move came two weeks after European Union leaders agreed to block most Russian oil imports by the end of 2022 to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine.

Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands have already had their Russian natural gas deliveries suspended after they refused a demand for "unfriendly countries" to pay in Russian roubles.

Russia's payment demand was seen as an attempt to boost the rouble after it was hit by Western sanctions. Greater foreign exchange demand for roubles was likely to increase demand and push up the currency's value.

Mr Habeck said Russia's actions showed European countries needed to end their dependency on fossil fuels urgently. In February, Germany suspended the opening of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, shortly before Russia launched its war in Ukraine.

The minister said he would wait to see how the move affected the European and German gas markets but said suppliers had always managed to find gas from other sources.

"We don't have a supply problem in Germany either," he said. "Gas will probably continue to be stored. We have made very good progress in this area in the last few days and weeks. 

"However, we will certainly have to wait two or three days to get a complete overview of how things are developing now."

In another development on Wednesday, the EU signed a framework agreement with Israel and Egypt aimed at increasing the amount of Israeli natural gas exported to European countries, BBC reported.

The US central bank has announced its biggest interest rate rise in nearly 30 years as it ramps up its fight to rein in soaring consumer prices, BBC reported.

The Federal Reserve said it would increase its key interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%.

The rise, the third since March, comes after inflation in the US surged unexpectedly last month.

More hikes are expected, adding to the uncertainty facing the economy.

Forecasts released after the meeting showed officials expect the rate the Fed charges banks to borrow could reach 3.4% by the end of the year, the moves rippling out to the public in the form of higher borrowing costs for mortgages, credit cards and other loans.

As central banks around the world take similar steps, it marks a massive change for the global economy, where businesses and households have enjoyed years of low borrowing costs, according to Associated Press.

"Most advanced economy central banks and some emerging market central banks are tightening policy in sync," said Gregory Daco, chief economist at strategy consulting firm EY-Parthenon.

"That is a global environment that we've not been accustomed to in the past few decades, and that will represent ramifications for the business sector and for consumers throughout the world."

Thousands of civilians are trapped in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk with essential supplies running out, the United Nations is warning, BBC reported.

Many of them are sheltering in bunkers beneath the city's Azot chemical plant.

The last bridge leading out of the city was destroyed in fighting earlier this week - effectively trapping its 12,000 remaining residents inside.

For weeks capturing Severodonetsk has been a top military goal for Russia, which now controls most of the city.

"The lack of water and sanitation is a big worry. It's a huge concern for us because people cannot survive for long without water," spokesperson for the UN's Humanitarian Affairs office Saviano Abreu told the BBC.

Mr Abreu added that food supplies and health provisions were also running out in Severodonetsk, which is in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region.

The UN is hoping to provide aid to those trapped in the city, but continued fighting means its agencies cannot get access or assurances to safely reach the civilians still there, including women, children and the elderly.

The warning followed Russian promises to open a humanitarian corridor earlier on Wednesday to evacuate civilians trapped beneath the Azot plant. 

But so far there has been no confirmation that the planned safe route - which would have evacuated civilians into Russian-controlled territory to the city's north - had actually gone ahead.

On Wednesday a pro-Russian separatist official accused Ukrainian forces of "completely thwarting" the evacuation of civilians trapped in the chemical plant, according to BBC.

"At Azot, militants are trying to disrupt the evacuation! From the territory of the plant, the militants have begun firing from a mortar and a tank," Rodion Miroshnik, the "ambassador" to Moscow of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, said on Telegram.

The BBC has not been able to verify this claim.

Russian media outlets also blamed Ukrainian forces for the fact that civilians were trapped alongside its fighters in the plant - accusing them of using local residents as "human shields".

Gazprom-owned NTV suggested there may be as many as 1,200 people, including children, trapped underneath the plant, BBC reported.

The US announced it will send an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, as America and its allies provide longer-range weapons they say can make a difference in a fight where Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and outgunned by their Russian invaders, Associated Press reported.

President Joe Biden and his top national security leaders said Wednesday the US is moving as fast as possible to get critical weapons to the fight, even as Ukrainian officials protest that they need more, faster, in order to survive. 

The latest package, the US said, includes anti-ship missile launchers, howitzers and more rounds for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that U.S. forces are training Ukrainian troops on now. All are key weapons systems that Ukrainian leaders have urgently requested as they battle to stall Russia’s slow but steady march to conquer the eastern Donbas region.

“Gen. Milley and I have been in a number of fights. And when you’re in a fight, you can never get enough,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a press conference in Brussels, referring to Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“I certainly understand where the Ukrainians are coming from, and we’re gonna fight hard to give them everything they need.”

The HIMARS and anti-ship systems are the kinds of longer range capabilities that over time can make a difference in the fight, Milley said. He said Ukraine will have trained HIMARS crews in the fight in a few weeks, according to Associated Press.

“If they use the weapon properly and it’s employed properly, they ought to be able to take out a significant amount of targets and that will make a difference,” he said. But he also noted that the numbers clearly favor the Russians.

“In terms of artillery, they do outnumber, they out-gun and out-range” the Ukrainian forces. 

The aid is the largest single tranche of weapons and equipment since the war began. Biden, who spoke by phone with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for about 40 minutes Wednesday, also said the U.S. will send $225 million more in humanitarian assistance to provide safe drinking water, medical supplies, food, health care, shelter and money for families to buy essential items.

The US remains committed, Biden said in a statement, “to supporting the Ukrainian people whose lives have been ripped apart by this war.”

The aid comes as Austin convened a meeting in Brussels of more than 45 nations to discuss support for Ukraine. At the start of the meeting, he warned that the West must step up weapons deliveries to Ukraine and prove its commitment to helping the country’s military fight along a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line in a grinding war of attritionwith Russia.

He told the participating nations, “We can’t afford to let up and we can’t lose steam. The stakes are too high.”

Overall, since the war began in late February, the US has committed about $5.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including this latest package. Officials said that about one-third of the latest $1 billion will be from presidential drawdown authority, which means the Pentagon will take weapons and equipment from it’s own stock and ship them to Ukraine. The remaining two-thirds would be equipment and weapons purchased from industry by the US and then transferred to Ukraine, Associated Press reported.