Russia is calling for an international investigation into the sabotage of Nord Stream after a U.S. investigative journalist wrote that the United States was behind the explosions of the gas pipelines last autumn, the speaker of the Russian Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, U.S. investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in his blog, in a post titled "How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline," that the U.S. planted explosives on the bottom of the Baltic Sea to blow up the pipelines.
Commenting on the post, Volodin referred to the claims as "facts" and said they should be the basis of an international investigation.
"The published facts should become the basis for an international investigation, bringing Biden and his accomplices to justice, as well as paying compensation to countries affected by the terrorist attack," Volodin posted on Telegram, calling U.S. President Joe Biden "a terrorist who ordered the destruction of energy infrastructure of his partners-Germany, France, and the Netherlands."
On Wednesday, the White House dismissed the claims in Hersh's blog post as "utterly false and complete fiction."
Various investigations into the Nord Stream explosions at the end of September continue amid accusations from Russia that some Western intelligence services are "hiding something."
Sweden's refusal to share information about the sabotage of Nord Stream is "puzzling," and withholding the results of the investigation means that "Swedish authorities are hiding something," Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last month.
Traces of explosives were found near the sites of the explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, Sweden said in November, noting that the incident was "gross sabotage."
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.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Comments
Seymour Hersh wrote in his blog, in a post titled “How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline,” that the U.S. planted explosives on the bottom of the Baltic Sea to blow up the pipelines. On Wednesday, the White House dismissed the claims as “utterly false and complete fiction.”
The culprit must have a motive, vested interest and strategic objective. These three items fit the United States like a hand in glove.
The motive is that the United States has had a history of opposing Soviet and later Russian oil and gas pipelines to supply Europe with Russian gas and oil supplies since the 1960s.
The vested interest is that the United States stands to benefit handsomely from selling its LNG to the EU at the expense of Russian piped gas.
As for the strategic objective, it is well known that the United States has always warned the EU against its energy dependence on Russia and has never hidden its intention of severing this dependence once and for all.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Global Energy Expert