Nord Stream investigations putting Danish-US relations at risk: Envoy
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Russia's Ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, says Denmark fears cooperation with Russia on the Ukrianian-linked Nord Stream blast investigation.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (L) talk during their meeting in Kiev, Ukraine, on September 6, 2023 (AP)
A joint investigation into the attacks that targeted the Nord Stream gas pipelines may put Danish-US relations and Danish arms supplies to Ukraine at risk, Russia's Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin told Sputnik.
The diplomat confirmed that there is no cooperation between Russia and Denmark in the investigation of the gas pipelines connecting Russia to Western Europe through the Baltic Sea, despite an official request for legal assistance from the Russian side.
Barbin said the Danish prosecutor's office has claimed that working with Russia on the investigation "could jeopardize the national security of Denmark."
"In the context of the various and contradictory versions discussed in the media about the possible organizers of sabotage, this motivation raises many questions. Does this position of the Danish prosecutor’s office express fears in Copenhagen that the Russian side may find out something that will create risks for Denmark’s cooperation with the United States in the security sphere or Denmark's supply of weapons to Ukraine? Perhaps this is the reason for the total secrecy of the investigation into the terrorist attack on the pan-European energy infrastructure that took place a year ago?" Barbin stated.
On September 26, 2022, there were explosions 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.
Sources familiar with the investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions have confirmed media reports that traces lead to Ukraine, as reported by Sputnik.
German news outlets added that there is growing evidence that agents linked to Ukraine may be behind the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines. The news outlets noted that they were in Ukraine before and after the explosions in the Baltic Sea, citing technical data.
In June, a report by The Washington Post said the CIA knew through a European spy agency, three months before the sabotage attack, that members of a Ukrainian special operations team intended to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline.
The yacht involved, according to the investigators, was loaded with explosives and made a deviation from its original route into Polish waters from the Danish island of Christianso.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office of Germany confirmed in March that searches had been carried out on a ship that was carrying explosives to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
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