MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Russia remains the most reliable gas supplier despite the sanctions pressure of western countries and blasts at Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"Despite it (the West’s sanctions pressure and gas pipeline blasts - TASS), <…> Russia still remains the most reliable gas supplier and it fully meets its contractual obligations," she said in an interview broadcast on the Solovyov Live TV channel.
Western countries are not conducting a proper investigation into Nord Stream blasts, Zakharova said, adding that it was the West that restricted supplies of hydrocarbons from Russia, while Moscow is accused of suspension of gas supplies.
On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported "unprecedented damage" on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system. Later, Swedish seismologists said they had identified two explosions on the route of the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26, 2022. Following the incident, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office initiated a criminal case on charges of international terrorism.
Later, noted American journalist Seymour Hersh published an article, citing anonymous sources inside Washington, claiming that the explosive devices were placed under the gas pipelines in June 2022 by US Navy divers with the assistance of Norwegian specialists. Subsequently, the New York Times quoted US officials as saying that the sabotage of the gas pipelines could have been carried out by an unidentified "pro-Ukrainian group" that acted without the knowledge of US authorities.