China urges impartial probe into Nord Stream explosions
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A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in the US says Moscow believes the Nord Stream blasts were carried out by international terrorists.
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Gas bubbles following the Nord Stream explosion in the Baltic Sea in the area covering a one-kilometer diameter near Bornholm, Denmark, September 27, 2022 (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister said an impartial investigation into the sabotage that targeted the Nord Stream gas pipelines must be carried out, adding that those responsible must be brought to justice.
"It is imperative to conduct an objective, impartial and professional investigation into this incident with explosions and bring [those responsible] to justice," Wang Yi told reporters on Thursday during a press conference.
China's top diplomat added that the pipelines are vital transnational infrastructure and the bombing that targeted them raised worldwide concerns about the security of such infrastructure in large countries, as the incident impacted the global energy market.
Read more: US says up to countries where Nord Stream blast occurred to probe it
In the same context, Igor Girenko, a spokesperson to the Russian Embassy in the US, said on Wednesday that Moscow believes the explosions targeting the Nord Stream pipelines were attacks carried out by international terrorists.
"We qualify the incident as an act of international terrorism that requires a comprehensive and independent investigation," he said, noting that "it wouldn’t hurt if the US, which claims the monopoly on the truth, shifted from empty accusations directed at us to the matter at hand and at least try to prove it wasn’t involved in the destruction of the gas pipelines."
Within the same context, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Wednesday that Moscow appealed to the UN and raised the issue.
"We are preparing a special meeting of the Security Council. We will demand to determine some kind of investigation."
Read more: Snowden: US distracting from Nord Stream blasts with 'flying objects'
The top Russian official went on to clarify that Russia disagrees with the UN's position that it has no jurisdiction to probe the explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines.
"However, the UN Secretary-General has already said through his official representative that the UN has no authority and mandate to carry out such investigations. With all due respect, we disagree with this position," Lavrov added.
Read more: US prefers frozen Germany over one not aiding Ukraine: Seymour Hersh
The explosions occurred on September 26 at three of the four strings of Nord Stream 1 and 2 underwater pipelines, which are designed to transport a total of 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe each year.
Separate investigations were launched by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden into the suspected sabotage, with German media reporting trust issues among the three EU nations. The Russian prosecutor's office announced an investigation into possible international terrorism.
However, Denmark and Sweden have barred Russia from investigating the attack. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this exclusion highlighted the West's double standards.
Renowned US investigative journalist and Pulitzer award winner Seymour Hersh said last week that US Navy divers planted explosives to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines in late 2022.
Read more: US military aircraft circled Nord Stream incident site in September
"Last June, the Navy divers, operating under the cover of a widely publicized mid-summer NATO exercise known as BALTOPS 22, planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operational planning," Hersh wrote in his Substack newsletter.
The White House responded and dismissed the claims as "false and complete fiction."
