NEW DELHI, February 20./TASS/. The fact that the West is keeping quiet about the terrorist attack on Russia’s Nord Stream gas system speaks for itself, Indian expert on international affairs Kanwal Sibal told TASS in comments on the probe of US journalist Seymour Hersh into the role of the US and Norway in the attack.
"The silence of European governments, especially Germany, on this blow-up is telling, as well as that of France, Italy and Spain whose companies had invested in the pipeline. Normally, in case of such a blow to vital civilian infrastructure, and of energy at that, the West would make all efforts to unearth the perpetrators of this terrorist attack. Its silence speaks for itself," Sibal stressed.
"Identifying a NATO country as responsible would have had dramatic consequences internationally, besides its impact on Europe and American public opinion," the expert stressed.
He reiterated that "on February 9, 2022, President Biden, standing next to Chancellor Scholz in a joint press conference at the White House said that he will shut down Nord Stream 2. Scholz, surprisingly, said nothing". "Hersh claims that Biden had got Scholz on board, which with hindsight seems possible," the political analyst went on to say.
He also drew attention to the fact that "in March 2022, Undersecretary in the US State Department said presciently to the US Senate that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project was currently ‘dead’ and was unlikely to be ever ‘revived’. "On September 27, 2022, the two Nord Stream pipelines were blown up. On November 28, the Swedish Prosecutor's office, after investigation, said it was an act of sabotage, without identifying who was responsible," the expert said.
On February 8, US journalist Seymour Hersh, who specializes in investigative journalism, stated in his article, citing a source, that the Nord Stream pipelines were bombed using explosive devices planted by US Navy divers in June 2022 under the guise of the BALTOPS exercise, with support from Norwegian specialists. According to Hersh, the operation was authorized by US President Joe Biden personally, following nine months of discussions with White House security specialists.
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, 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.