(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the explosions that caused damage to two Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last September were the work of one or more states, dismissing the idea that a group of pro-Ukraine activists carried out such an operation.
Moscow has in the past denounced an act of “international terrorism”, accusing in particular the British navy of having carried out an operation to sabotage the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
Russia complains of not being kept informed of the investigations opened by Denmark, Germany and Sweden.
“We asked the Danish authorities (…) to work together or to form an international group of experts, specialists. The answer was vague. Simply said: no answer. They said we had to wait,” he said. said Vladimir Putin.
Speaking in an interview on Russian state television, the Kremlin chief described as “complete nonsense” a theory that a pro-Ukraine group was behind attacks on gas pipelines.
“You always have to ask who is interested in it… In theory, of course, the United States has an interest,” he said.
Washington has firmly denied any involvement in the explosions in the past.
“Any explosion of this type, of this power, at this depth, can only be carried out by specialists, with the support of full state powers,” said Vladimir Putin.
(Report Caleb Davis; French version Jean Terzian, edited by Matthieu Protard)
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