Nord Stream leak: Russia and West trade blame over alleged sabotage of undersea gas pipelines
Russia and the West have traded blame over alleged sabotage that caused mysterious leaks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Two underwater pipelines running from Russia to Germany were damaged this week, with explosions apparently recorded in the Baltic Sea beforehand.
While the EU and US have stopped short of directly accusing Russia, a Kremlin official was rebuked after hinting that Washington was responsible.
"[President Joe] Biden is obliged to answer the question of whether the US carried out its threat," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on social media.
Washington dismissed the suggestion, with a spokeswoman for the National Security Council saying: "We all know Russia has a long history of spreading disinformation and is doing it again here."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it would be in "no-one's interest" if the leaks were caused deliberately.
Europe's leaders have identified sabotage as the cause of the Nord Stream leaks close to Sweden and Denmark's territorial waters.
“All available information indicates those leaks are the result of a deliberate act,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement on behalf of the bloc's 27 members.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau was more direct. He suggested on Tuesday the leaks could be part of Russia’s campaign to apply pressure on the West for supporting Ukraine.
“The explosions took place very close to Danish territorial waters, but not inside them, because that would have meant NATO territory,” Rau said during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said allegations that Russia would have sabotaged its own pipelines were “predictable and stupid.”
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