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Nord Stream gas leak investigation

Lavrov lays into West’s latest Nord Stream explanation

Russia’s top diplomat slammed what he said was a disgraceful reaction by Western media to the blasts and assured that the reports would not go unnoticed

© AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday called attempts by Western media to shift the blame for the blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines on to a Ukrainian oligarch shameful.

"The attempts to explain, with reference to some Western intel services, that a certain Ukrainian oligarch was behind these (blasts on the gas pipelines - TASS), I think, are shameful for all those who have been pushing such a version through Western media outlets," Lavrov said at a news conference following talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud.

Russia’s top diplomat slammed what he said was a disgraceful reaction by Western media to the blasts and assured that the reports would not go unnoticed. The UN Secretariat which Moscow has asked to conduct an unbiased probe into the incident has been "absolutely passive and aloof," he lamented.

"Reporters [have been asking] the secretary general and his representatives whether they find it necessary to investigate the screaming reports that have popped up about how the West views last September’s terrorist attack on the Nord Streams. Both the [UN] secretary general and his employees have been dodging these justified questions," Lavrov added.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported, citing US officials, that the latest intelligence data suggest a pro-Ukrainian group could have been behind the sabotage at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. Also on Tuesday, Germany’s Zeit published a report saying that German investigators had identified the ship that was used by the saboteurs. The company that rented it was allegedly owned by Ukrainian nationals and was registered in Poland.

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.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov Nord Stream gas leak investigation

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