The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry attacked the passivity of Westerners, after the investigation by a renowned American journalist pointing to Washington’s responsibility in the sabotage of Nord Stream.
“When will we see the NATO countries come together for an emergency summit to analyze the situation?” called out February 11 Maria Zakharova, on her Telegram channel. The spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy reacted to the recent publication of a investigation by the famous American journalist Seymour Hersh.
This Pulitzer Prize winner has implicated the United States and Norway in the sabotage, at the end of September, of the Nordstream 1 and 2 gas pipelines. According to him, US Navy divers, helped by Norway, planted explosives on these gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea in June, triggering them three months later.
Still according to Seymour Hersh, who relies on a single anonymous source, US President Joe Biden had himself decided to blow up these gas pipelines in order to deprive Moscow of revenue from its gas sales to Europe. Washington also considered that Nord Stream 1 and 2 gave Russia an important means of pressure on Germany and the countries of Western Europe, he argues. The journalist further assures that the idea was raised in December 2021, before the plan was designed by the CIA. Formally denied by the White House, these serious accusations by a renowned journalist found little echo in the Western press.
“Facts, in spades”
“Where are the NATO specialists on Novichok agents and press hoaxes? first dead, who regularly, once a year, advanced absurd accusations out of thin air, while claiming to have evidence or highly probable facts?” asks Zakharova, scandalized by the numerous accusations made against his country. “They never showed anyone any facts. So here are the facts, in spades: the gas pipeline that was blown up, the reason that exists, indirect evidence discovered by journalists.
On September 26, Swedish seismologists repeatedly recorded a “massive emission of energy” on the route of the gas pipeline. Then, Nord Stream AG, the consortium operating the installation, had announced a “pressure drop” on the two lines of the gas pipeline. In the process, Moscow had been accused to be behind the destruction of its own energy infrastructure. A “predictable, stupid and absurd” challenge had swept the Russian presidency. Several European countries have since launched investigations, without having could still determine responsibility.
Commenting on the article by the American journalist, the spokesperson for the Kremlin had argued on February 9 “the need for a transparent international investigation” concerning this subject.
