The Kremlin on Thursday called for an international investigation into the sabotage against Nord Stream following reports published by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, before reiterating the «involvement of the Anglo-Saxons» in the pipeline explosions.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the publication of Hersh’s article «again demonstrates the need for an international investigation into these unprecedented attacks on international critical infrastructure» and argued that «it is impossible to leave this without determining who was responsible and punishing them.»
«Some points (of Hersh’s article) can be refuted and others need proof, but its depth of analysis and the harmony of its presentation is remarkable,» he said, before stressing that «it would be unfair to ignore it, especially on the part of a country like Germany, which was deprived of a very important energy facility because of this terrorist act.»
«For our part, we made statements about data pointing to the involvement of the Anglo-Saxons in organizing this act of sabotage,» he said, before insisting that «some coincidences can be seen,» as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.
Peskov said that Moscow has not received any request to open an international investigation following the publication of Hersh’s article and stressed that «Russia has made very energetic attempts over the last few months to participate in the investigations and to obtain at least some additional information».
«Unfortunately, our attempts have been rebuffed and we never received access to the information. However, our relevant services have this issue on their work agenda, of course,» the Kremlin spokesman concluded.
Hours earlier, the speaker of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, had called for an international inquiry to investigate the events and noted that they «should become the basis for an international investigation» to «bring (US President Joe) Biden and his accomplices to justice, as well as to pay compensation to the countries affected by the terrorist attack.»
Volodin said that U.S. divers allegedly placed explosives in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines «under the cover of NATO and with the support of Norway». This strategy is «reminiscent» of the German Third Reich, Volodin said through a message on his Telegram account.
He also compared Biden to former President Harry Truman: «If Truman became a criminal who used atomic weapons against civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then Biden became a terrorist who ordered the destruction of the energy infrastructure of his strategic partners.»
Earlier, Hersh explained on his website that those responsible for the alleged sabotage are U.S. Navy divers, who would have placed explosives during NATO’s ‘Baltops 22’ maneuvers. According to the journalist, on September 26, a Norwegian Navy plane launched a hydroacoustic buoy which detonated the explosive devices. He explained that the decision to detonate them was taken nine months after a «secret discussion» by U.S. national security agencies.
The White House on Wednesday denied accusations that the United States was behind the explosions recorded on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in September 2022, reiterating that it was «not involved in the explosion.» «The United States was not involved in the Nord Stream explosion,» Pentagon spokesman Garron Garn has said in a brief statement to the aforementioned newspaper, reiterating the Defense Department’s response to the same accusation in October.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
