SOCHI, October 5. /TASS/. The United States as supplier of energy resources to Europe was interested in explosions on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary meeting of the Valdai international discussion club.

"The American supplier of energy resources to the European market is interested [in the terrorist attack on both branches of the Nord Stream]. The Americans have wanted this for a long time, and they have achieved it. By whose hands [it has been done] it does not matter at all," Putin said.

The head of state stressed that what had happened was an act of international terrorism, and those who did it must be brought to justice.

About sabotage on Nord Stream pipelines

On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported unprecedented damage that occurred the day before on three strings of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines. On September 26, 2022, Swedish seismologists registered two explosions on the pipeline routes. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office launched a criminal case based on charges of international terrorism.

On February 8, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an article, which said, citing sources, that US Navy divers had planted explosive devices under the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines under the cover of the BALTOPS exercise in June 2022, and Norwegians activated the bombs three months later. According to the journalist, the decision to conduct the operation was made by US President Joe Biden personally, following nine months of discussions with White House security specialists. White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a comment to TASS that Hersh’s account was "utterly false and complete fiction."

The German government has refrained from assessments regarding who masterminded the sabotage and asked to await the results of the investigation.