Kiev suggested a year ago Nord Stream 2 had to be stopped

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Feb 2023 23:22

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov thanked Washington for its support and said the US was a leader in providing financial and military assistance to Kiev.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, right, speaks with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 14, 2023 (AP Photo)

While addressing the Hudson’s Institute Keeping Ukraine on the Path to Victory event on Tuesday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine had made the suggestion to the US a year ago that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline had to be shut down.

"A very big work has been implemented by now. A year ago, we suggested that Nord Stream 2 should be stopped. Russian oil should be sanctioned. Russia should be switched off from SWIFT, and Russian vessels should be banned from every port of the free world. It has all been done now," Ukraine's Defense Minister said.

These statements came as he was expressing his gratitude for the US in their "as long as it takes" approach in supporting Kiev.

The official noted that Washington was a leader in providing financial and military assistance to Kiev.

Ukraine is greatly appreciative of the US' "preventive support", help that will surely never be forgotten, the minister added.

The explosions on the pipelines 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.

On February 18, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report which detailed the causes and events that resulted in the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

In his investigation, Hersh found that US Navy divers had planted explosives on the pipeline during the NATO Baltops exercises in the summer of 2022.

On Monday, Sputnik reported that the United Nations Security Council on the Nord Stream explosions as requested by Russia would be held on Tuesday at 20:00 GMT.

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