NEW YORK, December 26. /TASS/. Nord Stream AG has begun appraising the damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea and restoring gas flow, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing a source.

According to the source, one repair estimate puts the cost at $500 mln. The newspaper also says that consultants working for Russia are also studying how long the damaged pipes can withstand saltwater exposure.

In this respect, the newspaper raises the question of why Russia, if it bombed its own pipelines, as some Western countries claim, would begin the expensive work to repair them.

The newspaper notes that the gas pipelines had a lot of opponents in Europe itself, although the sabotage of such an important piece of energy infrastructure could be regarded as an act of war.

In an interview with the newspaper, Daniel Stenling, Sweden’s top counterintelligence official, said that Stockholm, which is conducting its own investigation into the incident, has "no concrete evidence" of anyone's guilt. "But hopefully we will," he added.

Earlier this month, the Washington Post, which had interviewed 23 diplomatic and intelligence officials in nine countries, reported that there was "no evidence at this point that Russia was behind the sabotage" after several months of investigation, which was conducted by several Western countries.

On December 22, at a press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the explosions at the Nord Streams were an act of international state terrorism and the countries interested in the transit of Russian gas exclusively through the territory of Ukraine were behind the attack.

Nord Stream pipeline rupture saga

In late September, three leaks along the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were detected within a few hours. The first of them was uncovered along Nord Stream 2 near the Danish Island of Bornholm. Then, the other two leaks were discovered along Nord Stream 1.

Later, Swedish seismologists registered two explosions on the routes of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.

On November 18, the Swedish prosecutor's office stated that gas pipeline explosions were sabotage and that the investigation was continuing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the Anglo-Saxons of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines, noting that they have actually embarked on the destruction of Europe’s continent-wide energy infrastructure. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Russia's attempts to participate in the investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream project had been met with resistance, which would surprise many people in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark.