Still unclear who carried out attack on Nord Stream pipelines in 2022, NATO chief says
It is still unclear who was responsible for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last year, as national investigations into the sabotage need to be concluded, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
“What we do know is that there was an attack against the Nord Stream pipelines, but we have not been able to determine who was behind it,” Mr Stoltenberg said before a meeting with European Union defence ministers in Stockholm.
“There are ongoing national investigations, and I think it’s right to wait until those are finalised before we say anything more about who was behind it.” The New York Times reported on Tuesday that new intelligence reviewed by US officials had indicated that a pro-Ukrainian group sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines that carried natural gas from Russia to Europe.
The report does not point to any official Ukrainian involvement.
But it comes at a time when Kyiv is urging its Western allies to ramp up supplies of high-end weapons to drive back Russian forces as the war enters its second year. Investigations are ongoing as to what caused the Nord Stream pipelines, supplying Russian energy to Europe, to rupture and spew bubbles of natural gas into the Baltic Sea last September.
Western countries believe the explosions were deliberate but have not concluded who was behind them.
Russia, which has previously blamed the West, seized on the news on Wednesday to demand a transparent investigation in which it also wants to participate.
