Moscow: US needs to address its role in Nord Stream blasts

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the United States had questions to answer over its role in explosions on the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines last year.

Commenting on a report published earlier on Wednesday that said the US was involved in the explosions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the White House to comment on the "facts" that had been presented.

The report, published by US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh on his blog, alleged US involvement in the explosions.

Hersh said the decision to bomb the pipelines, which were shut down but contained residual gas, was made in secret by US President Joe Biden to cut off Moscow's ability to earn billions of dollars from natural gas sales to Europe.

Moscow has repeatedly said the West was behind the explosions affecting the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in September — multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects that carried Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

The White House said on Wednesday that Hersh's account was "utterly false and complete fiction". Western officials have denied the accusations.

"The White House must now comment on all these facts," Zakharova said in a post on Telegram, where she summarized Hersh's main claims regarding the alleged US involvement.

Investigators from Sweden and Denmark, in which the explosions occurred in both countries' exclusive economic zones, have said the ruptures were a result of sabotage, but have not said who they believe was responsible.

Russia said the countries "have something to hide" and are purposefully blocking Russia from the investigation.

Construction of Nord Stream 2, designed to double the amount of gas Russia could send directly to Germany under the sea, was completed in September 2021, but was never put into operation after Berlin shelved certification just days before Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine in February.

Agencies Via Xinhua