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Nord Stream gas leak investigation

UK mission to UN condemns Nord Stream sabotage

Thomas Phipps of the UK Mission to the United Nations welcomed a joint letter from the authorities of Germany, Denmark and Sweden, which says that those countries continue to investigate the incident

UNITED NATIONS, February 22. /TASS/. The United Kingdom condemns the sabotage attack on Russia’s Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines committed last September, said Thomas Phipps of the UK Mission to the United Nations.

"The UK condemns the acts of sabotage targeting the Nord Stream pipeline," he told the UN Security Council.

The UK diplomat also welcomed a joint letter from the authorities of Germany, Denmark and Sweden, which says that those countries continue to investigate the incident.

"We welcome the letter from Denmark, Sweden and Germany, informing UN member states that investigations are ongoing. The UK fully supports these technical investigations led by competent national authorities and awaits their findings," Phipps added.

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.

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.".

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