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Russia to insist on Gazprom's participation in Nord Stream probe

"The pipeline has an owner, and Gazprom is involved with the property. Of course, it is impossible without it the company’s participation in the probe," Dmitry Peskov stressed

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Russia will insist that Gazprom, as the owner of the pipeline, participate in the investigation of the Nord Stream emergencies, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

When asked whether Russia would insist that Gazprom or the state represented by its investigating authorities be admitted to the investigation of the incident, he replied:

"The pipeline has an owner, and Gazprom is involved with the property. Of course, it is impossible without it [the company’s participation in the probe]."

"This pipe is not ownerless," he added.

On Tuesday, Nord Stream AG announced that the damage that occurred on the same day simultaneously on three lines of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines was unprecedented, and it is not yet possible to estimate the time frame for restoration.

Shortly before that, Nord Stream AG reported a drop in pressure on both lines of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline. That being said, the causes of the incident are being investigated. Earlier, a similar sharp pressure drop occurred on the other gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2.

Peskov said on Tuesday, that Moscow was "extremely concerned about this news," and did not rule out that pipeline disruptions could be due to sabotage.

Later, Swedish seismologists reported that they had pinpointed two explosions that occurred along the routes of the Nord Stream pipelines on Monday. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, branded the incident as "sabotage," stressing that this sort of "deliberate disruption would result in the strongest possible response.".