Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has suggested that Copenhagen is doing Washington’s bidding
Denmark has never been interested in finding the real perpetrators behind the explosions that destroyed Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines last September, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed. She noted that Copenhagen had dragged its feet in granting permits for the second part of the pipeline and is refusing to cooperate with Moscow now that it has been sabotaged.
In a statement released on Saturday, Zakharova suggested that Copenhagen’s long-standing reluctance to the Nord Stream project is due to American influence.
“Copenhagen, which so ferociously defends US interests in Europe, was primarily not interested in conducting an investigation that could shed light on” those behind the sabotage, wrote the Russian official.
She pointed out that Denmark has yet to respond meaningfully to any of the many requests made by Russian authorities about the investigation into the blasts, including one from Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin last year. Zakharova also reminded Danish officials that Moscow is the owner of the destroyed gas pipelines.
According to the statement “despite Denmark’s refusal [to participate] in a joint investigation into sabotage,“Russia will continue to insist on being”received answers to the questions asked earlier.“Zakharova went on to warn that Moscow would not let Copenhagen”sweep the issue under the rug”, adding that only an open international investigation that includes Russia could establish the facts and present them objectively.
Appearing on Russia’s Russia 1 TV channel on Thursday, Zakharova described Denmark’s refusal as a “fraud“and one”total scam.“
Earlier that day, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen ruled out the possibility of Moscow participating in the investigation, explaining to journalists that “Denmark, Sweden and Germany all have legal certainty and you can have confidence in our investigations.“
Russia has accused the three countries of obstruction and asked the United Nations to launch an impartial international investigation.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were built under the Baltic Sea to deliver Russian natural gas to Germany and on to Western Europe. Both lines were blown up and rendered useless by explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022.
Source: sn.dk