Sweden's refusal to share information about the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines is "puzzling," and withholding the results of the investigation means that "Swedish authorities are hiding something," Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
Traces of explosives were found near the sites of the explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, Sweden said in November, noting that the incident is "gross sabotage."
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".
Sweden, Denmark, and Germany are also jointly investigating the incident with the gas pipelines built to carry Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea.
Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.
Today, Russia criticized Sweden's refusal to share information about the findings of the investigation with Russia, and Zakharova said that "Russian experts in the course of an objective investigation may come to uncomfortable conclusions and, finally, reveal to the public the ugly truth about who committed these acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks," as carried by Russian news agency TASS.
"The hiding of facts is evidence of the obvious: the Swedish authorities are hiding something," Zakharova added.
Last year, Russia accused the UK Navy of being involved in the explosions that put the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines out of commission.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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Michael Kern is a newswriter and editor at Safehaven.com and Oilprice.com, More
Comments
It is obvious that Sweden is hiding something with Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying that “hiding of facts is evidence of the obvious”.
And while Russia has accused the UK Navy of being involved in the explosions that put the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines out of commission, the real culprit is the one who ordered the UK to sabotage the pipelines.
Circumstantial evidence points the finger at one NATO member with a history of opposing Soviet and later Russian oil and gas pipelines to supply Europe with Russian gas and oil supplies since the 1960s; one who stands to benefit handsomely from selling its LNG to the EU at the expense of Russian piped gas and one who has had every intention of severing the EU’s dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies for good.
The circumstantial evidence fits one and only one NATO member and the whole world knows who it is.
The irony is that NATO and the EU announced yesterday that they are launching a joint NATO-EU task force intended to protect Western energy infrastructure. This raises a question as to whether the real intention is the protection of their infrastructure or the sabotage of more Russia’s gas pipelines and energy infrastructure like the Turk Stream as they did with Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Global Energy Expert