WARSAW, Oct 12 — The Druzhba oil pipeline linking Russia and Germany has been partly shut after a leak was discovered in Poland, the Polish PERN operator said today.

"The cause of the incident is not known for the moment. Pumping in the affected line was immediately stopped. Line 2 of the pipeline is functioning normally,” PERN said.

The leak was detected late yesterday near the village of Zurawice about 180 kilometres to the west of Warsaw in central Poland.

"PERN emergency services and the state fire service immediately went to the scene to assess the situation, secure the area and start rescue operations,” PERN said.

PERN spokeswoman Katarzyna Krasinska was quoted by PAP news agency as saying that the pipeline was mainly supplying two refineries in Schwedt and Spergau in Germany.

The Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline network was started in the 1960s and now covers 5,500 kilometres, pumping oil from the Urals to Europe through two main branches via Belarus and Ukraine.

The leak on the Druzhba pipeline comes after four leaks were discovered in the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany.

The pipelines have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

NATO yesterday said the alliance had bolstered naval deployments to protect its infrastructure in the Baltic and North Seas, saying the Nord Stream leaks were an act of "sabotage”.

G7 leaders also yesterday said in a statement they were "deeply troubled” and "strongly condemn any deliberate disruption of critical infrastructure”. — AFP