A leading European analyst told Xinhua on Tuesday that potential evidence of US involvement would affect how each side of the Ukraine crisis is viewed internationally.
ROME, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) — Three European countries probing the details of the Nord Stream pipeline explosion last September said Tuesday they are not sure when their investigations will be completed, even as allegations surface that the United States may have been responsible. for the underwater blast.
A leading European analyst told Xinhua on Tuesday that potential evidence of US involvement would affect how each side of the Ukraine crisis is viewed internationally.
Davide Tabarelli, professor of industrial engineering at the University of Bologna and president of Nomisma Energia, an energy research consultancy, said rumors of possible sabotage in the US were out even before the latest debate.
“We have been hearing rumors of possible US involvement for several weeks, long before the latest allegations,” Tabarelli told Xinhua.
The Nord Stream pipelines, which carried natural gas from Russia to European markets via Germany, were severely damaged last September after explosions in the Baltic Sea.
One pipeline, Nord Stream 1, was in operation at the time of the explosion and Nord Stream 2, although it had not been in operation, was filled with gas.
Recent allegations by Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Seymour Hersh and others said the attack had been carried out by US Navy divers.
Hersh, who has promised to share more information from his investigation soon, said explosives were planted during exercises involving North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allied countries about three months before the explosion and only detonated in September.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday dismissed allegations of US involvement in the explosions.
Russia requested that the UN Security Council demand an international investigation into the explosion. On Tuesday, the Security Council heatedly debated Russia’s request for a UN-led investigation into the incident.
A UN Security Council investigation into the explosions that blew up the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline in September 2022 is a high global priority, Jeffrey Sachs, a world-renowned economist, said on Tuesday.
“The destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26, 2022 constitutes an act of international terrorism and constitutes a threat to peace,” Sachs told the Security Council in a briefing.
China supports speeding up the investigation into the Nord Stream explosions to quickly find out the truth, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday. Noting that the Nord Stream gas pipelines are major cross-border infrastructure and energy transport arteries, Wang said the explosions had a major negative impact on the global energy market and the ecological environment.
In a joint letter to the Security Council, Denmark, Sweden and Germany – the three countries geographically closest to the part of the Baltic Sea where the explosions took place – said their investigations were ongoing and it was unclear when they would be completed. .
Noting that “the consequences in terms of greenhouse gas emissions are significant and worrying,” the letter reiterated that “deliberate actions, such as those committed against the Nord Stream pipelines, are unacceptable, endanger international security, and give cause for our deep concern.”
Croatian security expert Mirko Vukobratovic told Xinhua on Tuesday that the US Navy’s alleged involvement in the September 2022 Nord Stream explosions is “not impossible” because the US has benefited the most from the incident.
Source: sn.dk
