NEW YORK, March 22. /TASS/. The US Central Intelligence Agency and German intelligence were asked to prepare an alternative version of the destruction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said on Wednesday.

"Certain elements in the Central Intelligence Agency were asked to prepare a cover story in collaboration with German intelligence that would provide the American and German press with an alternative version for the destruction of Nord Stream 2," he wrote on his website, citing a source with access to diplomatic intelligence.

The journalist also noted that US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had discussed the act of sabotage during the latter’s visit to Washington in March. According to Hersh, "Biden and Scholz had an 80-minute meeting, with no aides present for much of the time." Hersh said that he "was told by someone with access to diplomatic intelligence that there was a discussion of the pipeline expose."

On February 8, Hersh wrote in an article, citing a source, that US Navy divers, with the assistance of Norwegian specialists, had planted explosive devices under the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines with the assistance of Norwegian specialists under the cover of the BALTOPS exercise in June 2022. According to Hersh, US President Joe Biden made the decision to conduct the operation following nine months of consultations with national security officials.