Russia will consider what further steps it will take in regard to its claim that the UK Navy was involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
Russia accused the UK of being involved in the explosions that put the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines out of commission.
“According to available information, representatives of this unit of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year - blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines,” the Russian defense ministry said during the weekend.
In response, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that “To detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale.”
But today, Kremlin spokesman Peskov said that the “participation of British specialists in the attacks on the Black Sea Fleet and the Nord Stream gas pipelines will not go unretaliated,” as put out by Russian news agency TASS.
“Such actions cannot be left unnoticed just like that. Of course, we will consider further steps. It is impossible to act otherwise,” Peskov was quoted as saying.
“There is evidence that Britain was involved in this act of sabotage, in plain language, a terrorist act, against a vital energy infrastructure, and not Russian - it is very important to take this into account - but an international energy infrastructure,” Peskov added.
Gas leaks in each of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were discovered at the end of September from the infrastructure just outside Swedish and Danish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.
An investigation launched by the Swedish authorities concluded that the leaks were the result of detonations, likely the result of “serious sabotage”.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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The irony is that the British Navy wouldn’t dare attack Russian gas pipelines and the Black Sea Fleet without given the green light from and cover by the real culprit. And while the British Navy could be the tool, the real culprit is the United States based on the following circumstantial evidence.
1- A country with a motive. The US is the one country that has a long history of opposing and trying to block the building of Soviet and Russian oil and gas pipelines connecting Russia to Europe.
2- One that could benefit handsomely by replacing cheap Russian piped natural gas supplies to the EU with its more expensive LNG exports. The US is milking the EU for its LNG supplies.
3- And one who has the geopolitical aim and determination to sever the EU’s dependence on Russian gas for ever. The US has never hidden its aim of severing the EU's dependence on Russian gas.
This circumstantial evidence fits one and only one country hand in glove: the United States.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Global Energy Expert