MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The refusal of Sweden to interact with Russian law enforcement representatives in the investigation into the causes of explosions at Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines is baffling, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
"The refusal of the Swedish side to respond on the merits to another request from the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office for legal aid in the criminal case on Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline damage in September 2022 is sincerely perplexing," Zakharova said. "Stockholm explains its refusal by saying, and essentially to interact on issues put forward by Russian competent authorities by the fact that meeting the Russian request will allegedly ‘pose a security threat to Sweden'," she noted. At the same time, the Russian side was informed that the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office is not interested in establishing a joint investigation team to investigate the damage to the gas pipelines.
Sweden offers no reason for its lack of interest, although the explosions at the gas pipelines posed an obvious threat to Sweden and other coastal states of the Baltic Sea, Zakharova said.
"We consider ourselves to be the party that sustained material damage, to say nothing of losses," the Spokeswoman said. "The act against the infrastructure, created over many years, including by the Russian side, is colossal damage, damage and losses, taken together. We have the right to receive appropriate information, have the right to ask questions and demand an answer to them. We must make sure that it doesn’t happen again in the future," she added.