Russia announced the unconditional need to involve representatives of the country in the investigation of incidents on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

In particular, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov drew attention to this.

“So far, from those press conferences that were held in Denmark and Sweden, we have heard alarming statements that any cooperation with the Russian side is excluded ... We believe that, of course, the participation of the Russian side in examining the damage sites and in the investigation of what happened should be mandatory,” he told reporters.

The Kremlin spokesman added that Moscow would wait for clarifications from its European partners on their position regarding Russia's participation in the process.

In turn, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak, on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel, said that an objective investigation of the emergency could be carried out only with the participation of Russian specialists.

At the same time, he clarified that so far neither the operators of Nord Streams, nor Gazprom, nor Rostekhnadzor have been admitted to the process.

The lack of an adequate response from Western partners to Russia's requests for pipeline accidents was also pointed out by Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko on the sidelines of the summit of heads of parliaments of the G20 countries in Indonesia.

“We insist on an objective investigation of this terrorist act (whatever you want to call it).

Until we see an adequate response.

Everything is absolutely without reason, without any reason, they blame Russia, ”she said.

Meanwhile, she expressed the opinion that the gas pipelines were damaged in order to prevent further deliveries of Russian raw materials to Europe.

  • Gas leak at the site of incidents at Nord Stream

  • AP

  • © Swedish Coastguard

Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in her Telegram channel criticized the Danish authorities, who indicated their intention to deny Moscow participation in the investigation.

According to her, they take a "nasty and illegal position" in connection with explosions on gas pipelines.

“The Danish Minister (Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod. -

RT

) went so far as to accuse the Russian side of “spreading false information about the alleged involvement of the West in undermining gas pipelines” (!).

In addition, he announced the government's resolute intention to refuse Russia's participation in the investigation of the sabotage and the identification of those responsible, ”the diplomat emphasized.

As Zakharova noted, even Danish lawyers note that there are no norms in international law that allow Russia, as the owner of gas pipelines, to be excluded from the investigation.

Terrorist attack under investigation

Recall that on September 26, a large gas leak was discovered on two export gas pipelines at once, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, near the Danish island of Bornholm.

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

Nord Stream AG called the pipeline damage unprecedented.

On October 4, they clarified that they still could not access the damaged areas and begin their examination due to the lack of permission from the Danish authorities, which was requested earlier.

"According to information received from the Danish authorities, the processing time for Nord Stream AG's request for a survey may be more than 20 business days," the company said.

Obstacles are being erected by Norway as well, Nord Stream AG noted.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country has not yet issued a permit for the ship chartered by the company and equipped with all necessary equipment to depart for the work site.

The Swedish and Danish maritime authorities have established a five-mile security zone around the incident sites.

Meanwhile, investigators of the FSB of Russia, based on the materials of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, opened a criminal case on an act of international terrorism.

"No proof yet, but..."

Germany, Denmark and Sweden plan to set up a joint investigation team to investigate the incidents.

Despite the fact that so far there is no data on possible people involved in the emergency, accusations against the Russian Federation are heard in the West every now and then.

So, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told local media on September 27 that what happened was a “signal from Russia”, which supposedly wants to further destabilize Europe.

Responsibility for the state of emergency was also laid on Russia by Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, who announced his position in an interview with Die Zeit on October 5.

“Of course, we still have to wait for the results of the investigation into the causes of what happened, we still do not have evidence.

But the only state that is interested in this sabotage is Russia,” he said.

  • Flags of EU countries

  • AP

  • © Ronald Wittek, Pool

The head of the department also advocated the involvement of NATO forces in patrolling underwater pipelines, lamenting that Europe cannot close the Gulf of Finland to Russia.

In turn, the head of the British Ministry of Defense Ben Wallace, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, stated that Russia should not be allowed to investigate.

At the same time, he admitted that if the Russian Federation decides to participate in the process, then "nothing can stop them."

Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin said this in an interview with the Politiken newspaper.

He stressed that Art.

79 of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea expressly states that the coastal state "cannot interfere with the maintenance of pipelines in good condition" on its continental shelf.

At the same time, Moscow's opinion on the incidents is not perceived by representatives of the West at all.

Thus, the arguments of the Russian side that accidents on gas pipelines were beneficial to the United States are swept aside.

In particular, Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Security Council, pointed to this.

Maria Zakharova spoke with detailed arguments, citing quotes and dates.

The involvement of the Anglo-Saxon forces in the sabotage was also announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Fueling the anti-Russian campaign

Experts interviewed by RT agree that the reluctance of Western countries to involve Russia in the investigation of incidents at Nord Stream indicates their disinterest in the objectivity of the process.

“The presence of the Russian Federation excludes the possibility of falsifying the results of the investigation, as has happened more than once in the case of the Malaysian Boeing MH17, the poisoning of the Skripals and other processes initiated by the West.

By preventing Russia from participating in the investigation, the West recognizes the risk of discovering inconvenient facts, in particular about the United States, which is followed by a whole trail of international sabotage to which they were related, ”explained in an interview with RT an associate professor at the Department of Political Science of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Leonid Krutakov.

According to him, if Russia's assumptions about Washington's responsibility for the terrorist attacks are confirmed, then this will put Europe in front of an unnecessary choice: turn a blind eye to this, picking up a digestible excuse, or enter into a confrontation with the United States.

The fact that Europe does not aim to find the real person responsible for the emergency on gas pipelines was also stated in a conversation with RT by the director of the US Research Foundation.

Franklin Roosevelt at Moscow State University

M.V.

Lomonosov Yuri Rogulev.

“I doubt that an objective investigation of these incidents is possible today, since they occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark.

And all these territories are under close attention of NATO.

Therefore, the big question arises how the authorities of these countries could miss the attack on the pipelines, and therefore, it can be assumed how the investigation of these emergencies will be conducted, ”the analyst believes.

He also called absurd attempts by Western countries to lay responsibility for the accident on Russia.

“It is foolish to accuse the Russian Federation of causing material damage to itself.

Russia does not need to carry out sabotage to deprive Europe of gas.

It's easier to just close the valve.

However, the pro-American Europoliticians need something to fuel the anti-Russian campaign by fulfilling the tasks of the United States, and therefore the corresponding attacks are made against Moscow.

Although the sensible Western public believes in these accusations, I think, is small, ”Rogulev concluded.