Sweden: Minor leak remains visible on Nord Stream 2

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The Swedish coast guard stated Monday that at this point, no leakage from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was visible in the Baltic Sea, but a minor leak from Nord Stream 2 was still visible.

The coast guard said in a statement that "the larger leak is now no longer visible on the surface while the smaller one instead has increased slightly." 

On Monday, an overflight conducted at approximately 8:00 am (0600 GMT) allowed for the observations of the two pipelines by the Swedish coast guard, which noted that "at that time, the smaller leak was approximately 30 meters in diameter."

Gazprom stated on Monday that "it was working to lower the pressure in the B line of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline" by pumping out the natural gas so that the pipeline could be safely inspected.

Both Nord Stream 1 and 2 are made up of two lines, and both Nord Stream 2 leaks occurred on the A-line.

The Russian energy titan went on to say that the Nord Stream 2 B pipeline may still be utilized to transport gas.

"If the decision is taken to start deliveries via the Nord Stream 2 B-line, natural gas will be pumped into the pipeline after the integrity of the system has been checked and the supervisory authorities have confirmed such a possibility," Gazprom said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

Nord Stream 2, which was built in parallel to Nord Stream 1, was supposed to double the capacity of Russian gas supplies to Germany.

However, in the days leading up to Russia's operation in Ukraine, Berlin halted the opening of the recently constructed Nord Stream 2.

It is worth noting that both Nord Stream lines, which linked Russia to Germany, have been at the core of geopolitical tensions as the collective West began sanctioning Russia over the Ukraine issue.

US official: UK and US navy capable of conducting Nord Stream attack

The US and the UK may be behind the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline explosions, said Douglas Macgregor, former advisor to US Defense Secretary in the administration of former US President Donald Trump, in an interview with Andrew Napolitano, host of the Judging Freedom podcast.

"You have to look at who are the state actors that have the capability to do this. And that means the [UK’s] Royal Navy and the United States’ Navy <…> I think that’s pretty clear," Macgregor said.

Macgregor further noted the significance of the publication by Poland’s former FM and current member of the European Parliament, Radoslaw Sikorski, who thanked the United States for damaging the Nord Stream 1 and 2 via his Twitter page.

Ex-Pentagon advisor argued the absurdness of the rhetoric that Russia was behind the attack, saying that "the Russians did not do this," while also adding that Germany’s involvement in the incident was also "extremely unlikely".

read more: Baltic Pipe starts pumping gas from Norway into Poland