TASS news agency quoted the Russian embassy in the United States as saying, on Thursday, that Washington should try to prove that it is not behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines to transport gas from Russia to Western Europe.
The embassy said in a statement that Moscow considers the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines last September “an act of international terrorism” and that it will not allow the matter to be kept secret.
Earlier, the White House “categorically” denied a new report by prominent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, in which Washington was accused of “being behind the sabotage” of the Nord Stream gas pipeline last year.
Seymour Hersh claimed in his report that, “Last June, divers in the US Navy, with the help of Norway, planted explosives on the pipeline that extends between Russia and Germany under the waters of the Baltic Sea, only to detonate them after 3 months.”
A spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House, Adrienne Watson, described Hersh’s report, which he published on his account on the self-publishing platform “Substack”, as “a figment of the imagination.”
A CIA spokesman reiterated the White House’s denial, calling the report “completely and utterly false.”
In response to a question about Hirsch’s claim that Oslo supported the process, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said that “these allegations are false,” according to Agence France-Presse.
Investigation of the Nord Stream bombing
- Western countries blamed Moscow for the pipeline bombing in September, exacerbating anger against Moscow in the wake of its military operation in Ukraine.
- Investigations carried out to date by the Swedish, Danish and German authorities have not led to the identification of the state or the perpetrator..
Hersh claimed that “the decision to blow up the pipeline, which was closed at the time but contained quantities of gas, was taken by the US president.” joe biden Secretly, to prevent Moscow from making billions of dollars in gas sales to Europe.”.
And he continued with his accusations: “The United States also believes that the line Nord Stream It gave Russia political influence over Germany and Western Europe, which could lead to a weakening of its commitment to Ukraine”.
Hersh referred in his report to Biden’s public statement two weeks before the Russian military operation on February 24, that “the United States will not allow the operation of the new (Nord Stream 2) pipeline, if Russia attacks Ukraine.”
The journalist claimed, quoting one unidentified source, that “the idea first appeared in December 2021, during discussions between Biden’s senior national security advisers about how to respond to the expected Russian military operation in Ukraine.”
He claimed that “later the CIA developed the plan, and under the cover of NATO exercises in June 2022, US Navy divers, with the help of Norway, planted explosives that could be detonated remotely on the pipeline.”
After the bombing of “Nord Stream” on September 26, there was speculation about the existence of motives in many countries to carry out this act, such as Russia Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Britain and the United States.
However, the West continued to point fingers at Russia, while Moscow accused the United States and Britain of carrying out the sabotage operation.
