Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/eudebates NATO has voiced “deep concern” over the damage sustained by the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, calling the incidents “deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage.”
Three leaks — two in the Danish zone and one in the Swedish zone — were discovered earlier this week in the two major Russian underwater pipelines designed to ship natural gas to Germany, while Sweden on September 29 said its coast guard had found a fourth leak.
Seismologists from Sweden and Denmark said they had recorded powerful explosions in the area at the beginning of the week.
The incidents come amid rising tensions between Europe and Russia over the war in Ukraine with both NATO and the European Union saying the leaks were caused by “sabotage” but refraining from directly pinning the blame on Russia.
“All currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage,” the alliance said in a statement on September 29.
“These leaks are causing risks to shipping and substantial environmental damage. We support the investigations under way to determine the origin of the damage,” it said.
NATO vowed to take strong action to protect critical European infrastructure.
“We, as allies, have committed to prepare for, deter and defend against the coercive use of energy and other hybrid tactics by state and non-state actors. Any deliberate attack against allies’ critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined response,” the statement said.
The Kremlin on September 29 said the leaks appeared to be the result of state-sponsored “terrorism.”
“It is very difficult to imagine that such an act of a terrorism could have happened without the involvement of a state of some kind,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said later in a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that damage done to the pipelines was an “act of international terrorism.”
Putin also called the incident, which caused leaks in multiple places on the underwater pipes in the Baltic Sea, “unprecedented sabotage,” according to a Kremlin statement.
CNN, citing two Western intelligence officials and one other source familiar with the matter, reported on September 29 that European security officials observed Russian Navy support ships early last week in the vicinity of the leaks around the time that the leaks may have started.
Asked to comment on the CNN report, Peskov said there had been a much larger NATO presence in the area.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova vehemently rejected suggestions that Moscow was behind the incidents, with the Kremlin calling them “absurd and stupid.”
Zakharova said the leaks occurred in territory that is “fully under the control” of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Danish officials have noted that it is not uncommon for Russian ships to be in the area.
Neither pipeline was in use at the time of the suspected blasts, but they were filled with gas that has been spewing out into the Baltic Sea since the September 26 breakages, prompting gas prices in Europe to spike.
Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream 1, said it intended to start assessing the damage to the pipeline as soon as it receives necessary permits.
It said access to the area of incidents may be allowed only after the pressure in the gas pipeline has stabilized and the gas leakage has stopped. Nord Stream AG told Reuters earlier that the leaks were likely to stop on October 3.
The UN Security Council will meet September 30 to discuss the incident.
Stay connected with us!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eudebates.tv/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eudebates
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eudebates.tv/
#eudebates the unique initiative aiming to promote debate, dialogue, knowledge, participation and communication among citizens. #Energy #Nordstream #sabotage #Russia #Gazprom #GAS #pipeline #pipelines #VonderLeyen #Nordstream2 #CAP #Prices #renewableenergy #renewable
10 Comments
Bravo for asking, these two dummies cannot answer. Usa did it
Glory to Russia, down with united state led nato terrorists.
We knew that day 1…I can't believe how incredibly fast you guys are
Totally unrelated to reality. Pitiful propaganda and empty wishes.
How can these pretenders keep avoiding the big elephant in the room? Everyone wants EU to officially pronounce whodunnit. Investigation had already finished long ago.
So who did that?🤣
Shame on you liers. Puppets or simply not intelligent. I feel sorry for Europ.
yes, how can you trust these people. i am not blaming her. it is coming from people who control this. i can you tell one thing, it is not russia. If russia , they will say, it is russia and party and dance. so0mbody else , they cannot say who. Looks like to me , the country , west is sending so much money or some west ally. America has a republican house, they will not play this game, truth is matter for them. will see how it is going to work out.
A nice part of european culture is to seek truth and stand in for it, or… at least that's how I imagine this "ideal" EU.
It is not about finding who to blame for and to be mad, but to know with whom to talk to and what about. To understand, learn and to solve the issue wisely.
Therefore it's a shame that the whole of the EU is not putting in reckless effort to unveil the truth and every little detail known. Don't we wish and need to be able to know? To be able to think free, draw conclusion and act humble and sane…
I believe in democracy, i guess, but if we don't pursuit truth and respect we may dive into endless depth of lies and deceit…
I request and dare the EU to be honest about what they know and then democratically deceit how to act accordingly. EU must stop iggnoring important parts of the democratic principles if it wants to become respected. Someone destroyed important infrastructure but there is like no reaction for months.
If it would have happened 2001 or the years after, there would be a permanent feed of news regarding the search for the "terrorists" who did that! In contrast to this the reaction of the EU and all it's state officials are unbearable shameful and just faint… EU keeps looking weeker while time progresses… which one maybe could be okay with if at least we knew what it is worth for.
What is democratic society worth if there is no honest talking?
Why can’t no one say who it was?!?! If it would be Russia it would be on the news 24/7 for the last 3 months 😂