Western trace: Russia pointed to the benefits of the United States from the incidents at Nord Stream

The situation with the incidents on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines is primarily in the interests of the United States.

Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, pointed this out when speaking at a meeting of the heads of security agencies and intelligence services of the CIS countries in Moscow.

“Obviously, the main beneficiary (in this situation. -

), primarily economic, is the United States,” he said.

The Secretary of the Security Council also noted that such a sabotage on the offshore pipeline is not the first in world history, recalling the explosion of the oil pipeline in the port of Puerto Sandino in Nicaragua in October 1983.

Patrushev stressed that today it is necessary to make coordinated efforts to "expose the customers and perpetrators of the crime" at Nord Stream.

According to him, “more and more often serious questions arise for the organizers of smear campaigns themselves” to find those responsible for what happened.

At a briefing on September 29, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also pointed out the interest of the United States in the decommissioning of gas pipelines.

According to the diplomat, Washington is "an absolute beneficiary in this situation."

“The shutdown of gas pipelines, to summarize what has been said by US officials over the past many years, will allow the US to increase its LNG supplies to the EU,” Zakharova explained.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said about the unprecedented attacks on gas pipelines.

In a conversation with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 29, he described the emergency as "an act of international terrorism."

“The President of Russia gave a fundamental assessment of the unprecedented sabotage, in fact, an act of international terrorism against the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines,” the Kremlin website said in a statement. 

• Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Germany

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• © Stefan Sauer/picture alliance

Recall that on September 26, a large gas leak was discovered on the SP-2 and SP-1 lines near the Danish island of Bornholm.

According to the Swedish National Seismic Center, two underwater explosions were recorded along the routes of both highways.

The Nord Stream AG company called the damage to pipelines unprecedented, finding it difficult to name the time frame in which restoration work could be carried out.

Western trail

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reported that they have data indicating a western trace in an emergency on gas pipelines.

“We already have some materials that point to the Western footprint in the organization and implementation of this terrorist act.

In my opinion, the West is doing everything to hide the true perpetrators and organizers of this international terrorist act, ”Sergey Naryshkin, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, told reporters.

He also recalled that Russia is conducting its own investigation in connection with explosions on pipelines.

Earlier, on September 28, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation initiated investigative measures in connection with the incidents.

A criminal case has been opened under Part 1 of Art.

361 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Act of International Terrorism”).

“Through these gas pipelines, the Russian Federation supplied natural gas to the countries of the European Union both for industrial use and for heating residential premises.

As a result of these actions of the Russian Federation, significant economic damage was caused, ”the department explained.

• United Nations Security Council

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• © Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket

In addition, on the initiative of the Russian Federation, an urgent meeting on sabotage at Nord Stream will be held in the UN Security Council on September 30.

As Maria Zakharova explained on the air of the Rossiya 1 TV channel on September 28, the convening of the UN Security Council is one of the emergency measures necessary to draw international attention to the problem.

Cautious remarks

The United States has not yet commented on the incident at Nord Stream.

So, the official representative of the country's Ministry of Defense, in an interview with RIA Novosti on September 29, said that Washington "will not speculate or run ahead of the efforts of European countries to investigate the causes of this incident."

Thus, he commented on the published data of the Flightradar24 resource, which tracks aircraft flights, about regular flights of US military helicopters during September in areas where explosions on gas pipelines later occurred.

Maria Zakharova reacted to the remark of the representative of the American department.

In her Telegram channel, she noted that the United States should simply admit to what their president was talking about, promising to end Nord Stream 2.

In turn, the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, on September 30, at a press conference in the state of Hawaii, stressed that Washington "will not guess" about those responsible for the incidents until the investigation is completed.

“There is a lot of speculation as to the attack or damage to the pipeline, but frankly, until a full investigation is completed, no one will be able to say for sure what happened,” Lloyd said.

According to him, the US intends to wait for further information or the opportunity to "carry out further analysis."

Meanwhile, Moscow stressed earlier that an international investigation into the emergency at Nord Stream should be conducted with the participation of Russian representatives.

According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, Gazprom is required to have access to the process as one of the owners of the damaged pipelines.