New Delhi: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday said the Nord Stream pipeline incidents took place in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark and Sweden, an area that is fully controlled by US intelligence agencies.
Commenting on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipeline leaks on Wednesday, Zakharova recalled that officials in Washington had asserted early this year that Nord Stream 2 would never go into service. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman demanded, among other things, that US President Joe Biden issue a reply as to whether Washington had carried out its threat over the pipelines on September 25 and 26.
“Speaking of where the incident occurred. There have been allegations that those are neutral waters and so on. But that is the exclusive economic zone of Denmark and Sweden, the very NATO-centric countries that are stuffed with US-made weapons and which are fully controlled by American intelligence agencies, who have the entire control of the situation over there,” the Russian diplomat said.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline – which consists of two parallel branches – has not transported any gas since August when Russia closed it down, saying it needed maintenance. It stretches 745 miles (1,200km) under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St Petersburg to north-eastern Germany.
The pair of explosions Monday produced leaks in all three of the underwater Nord Stream pipelines that connect Russia and Germany, causing massive plumes of gas bubbles to break the surface of the Baltic Sea.
(Vinayak)