Investigation into Nord Stream crisis impossible without Russia: Envoy
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Russia demands a thorough investigation to determine the true cause of what occurred, according to Vasily Nebenzya.
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Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya (TASS)
Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said at a UN Security Council meeting that Moscow wants a thorough investigation into an act of sabotage against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
"Russia calls for a thorough investigation to find out the real cause of what happened," he noted. "We hope that you (Western members of the UNSC) will refrain from engaging in Russophobic verbal games that defy common sense, similar to those that you used in relation to Ukrainian strikes on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant," Nebenzya said.
"It is absolutely clear to us that ordinary terrorists aren’t capable of carrying out sabotage activities of this complexity and scale. We view actions aimed at damaging the gas pipelines as a deliberate act of sabotage against Russia’s crucial energy facility," the envoy stressed.
Read next: Kremlin hints at sabotage as possible cause of Nord Stream damage
"We will certainly establish all those involved in this act of sabotage. Any international investigation into what happened can claim impartiality only if Russia takes part in it," Nebenzya added.
Western countries see the sabotage that caused gas leaks from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines as retaliation for Russia's actions in Ukraine, according to Nebenzya.
Earlier, US Deputy Representative to the UN Richard Mills devoted a significant portion of his address at the meeting to the situation in Ukraine. "We had not linked the Nord Stream incident to the situation in Ukraine before our US colleague delivered his speech but now we understand that our Western colleagues see this act of sabotage - regardless of who is behind it - as some kind of revenge for Russia’s activities in Ukraine," Nebenzya noted.
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The Russian envoy added that the US diplomat’s remarks "narrow down the suspects and can really facilitate efforts to investigate" the incident.
Nord Stream AG reported on Tuesday that on September 26, three threads of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 offshore gas pipelines sustained unprecedented damage. Two explosions were later recorded along the Nord Stream pipelines, according to Swedish seismologists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the situation on the West. "It’s clear to everyone who benefits from this. And the one who benefits from this is the one who did it," Putin stressed.
This comes after the Swedish National Seismic Network (SNSN) reported powerful underwater explosions in the area of gas leaks from the Nord Stream pipeline on September 27.
SNSN Director Bjorn Lund said as quoted by SVT that "there are no doubts that these were explosions."
“One explosion had a magnitude of 2.3 and was registered by dozens of monitoring stations in southern Sweden,” he stated.
“You can clearly see the waves bounce from the bottom to the surface," Lund added.
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On his part, Peter Schmidt, an Uppsala University seismologist, said the Swedish National Seismic Network recorded two "massive releases of energy" shortly prior to, and near the location of, the gas leaks off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm.
"The first happened at 2:03 am (0003 GMT) just southeast of Bornholm with a magnitude of 1.9. Then we also saw one at 7:04 pm on Monday night, another event a little further north and that seems to have been a bit bigger. Our calculations show a magnitude of 2.3," Schmidt said.
The Norwegian Seismic Array (NORSAR) also confirmed it had registered "a smaller explosion" in the early hours of Monday "followed by a more powerful one on Monday evening."
Photos taken by the Danish military on Tuesday showed large masses of bubbles on the surface of the water emanating from the three leaks located in Sweden's and Denmark's economic zones, spreading from 200 to 1,000 meters (656 feet to 0.62 miles) in diameter.
