While the UN Security Council will meet on Friday at the request of Russia, a fourth leak has been identified on the gas pipelines.
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NOTNew twist in the case of leaks from the Nord Stream gas pipelines. A fourth leak has been identified in the Baltic Sea above the Nord Stream gas pipelines targeted by suspected sabotage, Agence France-Presse learned Thursday, September 29 from the Swedish coast guard. “There are two leaks on the Swedish side and two leaks on the Danish side,” said an official from the Swedish authority, adding that the two leaks on the Swedish side are “close to each other”. So far, the authorities of the two countries had reported a leak on the Swedish side and two leaks on the Danish side.
Following two suspicious explosions that took place on Monday morning and evening, these are in international waters, off the Danish island of Bornholm, but in the respective exclusive economic zones of the two Scandinavian countries. The Swedish coast guard could not immediately specify why the report of this new leak took place only late. But the two leaks on the Swedish side are located in the same area, they said. “The distance is something subjective, but they are close to each other,” the coast guard official said. The authority was unable to confirm reports from Swedish media that this new leak is located above the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Sweden had so far reported a leak over Nord Stream 1, northeast of the island of Bornholm. Denmark has confirmed a leak on Nord Stream 2 in the south-east of the island, and another in the northeast, above Nord Stream 1. The vast leaks cause significant marine bubbling of several hundred meters wide on the surface which make immediate inspections of the works impossible, according to the authorities.
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Russia counterattacks and appeals to the UN Security Council
While Europeans denounce “sabotage”, Russia has reacted to the accusations it has been facing since Tuesday. It is “stupid and absurd” to suspect Russia of being behind the massive leaks detected after explosions that hit the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the Kremlin said on Wednesday (September 28th). In the process, Russia indicated, through the voice of the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, that it wanted to request “an official meeting” of the United Nations (UN) Security Council “in the framework provocations concerning the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines”.
A request to which France, as President of the Security Council, responded favorably. The UN Security Council should meet this Friday, September 30 to discuss these leaks, according to the Swedish Foreign Minister. Sweden and Denmark have been tasked with briefing council members on the leaks in their exclusive economic zones, she said. “It was quite predictable” that some would blame Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Predictable, stupid and absurd,” he added. These leaks affecting Nord Stream 1 and 2 are “problematic for us, because both tubes are filled with (Russian) gas ready to be pumped and this gas is very expensive. Now this gas is escaping,” he lamented.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin also denounced Thursday to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan the alleged attacks having targeted the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which according to him represent an “act of international terrorism”.
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The Kremlin suspects the involvement of a foreign state
Russia said on Thursday it suspected the “involvement” of a foreign state in the four leaks detected on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, without however naming a specific country. “It is very difficult to imagine that such a terrorist act could take place without the involvement of a state,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, again calling for “an urgent investigation. “. “This is an extremely dangerous situation,” repeated Dmitry Peskov, after Russia opened an investigation on Wednesday for “an act of international terrorism”.
Asked about the possibility of conducting an international investigation with the participation of other countries, the Kremlin spokesman indicated that “many questions arise” due in particular to the “lack of communication” and “the reluctance of very many country to contact” Russia, against the backdrop of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.