Zakharova suggests Denmark, Sweden probably know pipeline saboteurs
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According to Zakharova, not including Russia in the probe can only be explained in one way — "they probably know who did it."
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Gas leaks followed an explosion targeting Nord Stream 2 pipeline (Danish Defence/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova questioned the reason behind the decision not to include Moscow in the investigations. In a briefing she made on Thursday, Zakharova stated that "official Copenhagen proceeds from the fact that this incident is not an accident, but the result of deliberate actions and considers it necessary to conduct an international investigation of this incident. At the same time, according to the foreign minister, Denmark does not intend to have a dialogue with Moscow on this issue."
Zakharova added that "this can only be explained in one way — they probably know who did it, so Moscow's opinion is simply not interesting, because the suspect has already been identified, and it is already possible to bring him to justice."
Read more: Gazprom: Launch of Nord Stream 2 could resolve EU energy crisis
Following a statement made by Denmark and Sweden on Wednesday expressing plans to carry out investigations on the explosion that occurred at the Nord Stream gas pipeline without Russia, Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, stated on Thursday that Moscow expressed its deep regrets through diplomatic channels that it is not being included as part of the investigations on the terrorist attack that targeted the Nord Stream pipeline.
"We do not consider it possible to conduct an objective investigation without the participation of the Russian side," he added.
During a meeting at the UN Security Council that took place on September 30, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said that Moscow wants a thorough investigation into an act of sabotage against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
Nebenzya stated in the meeting that, "Russia calls for a thorough investigation to find out the real cause of what happened," adding, "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."
In the same context, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergei Naryshkin told reporters on Friday that Russia already holds proof that the West is accountable for the pipeline explosions. "We already have some materials that point to the Western footprint in organizing and carrying out this terrorist act," Naryshkin said. He expressed that the West does everything to "hide the true organizers and perpetrators of this international terrorist act."
Read more: Polish EU lawmaker deletes 'thank you, USA' over Nord Stream tweet
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev stated on Friday at a meeting of the heads of intelligence agencies of the CIS countries, after the fourth explosion hit the Nord Stream pipelines, that the United States is the main beneficiary of the emergency situation.
"Literally from the first minutes after reports of explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, the West launched an active campaign to find those responsible. However, it is obvious that the main beneficiary, primarily economic, is the United States," Patrushev said.
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.
US military aircraft circled Nord Stream incident site in September
US military helicopters habitually and on numerous occasions circled for hours over the site of the Nord Stream pipelines incident near Bornholm Island earlier in September.
Flightradar24 data showed that earlier this month, a US Navy Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopter spent hours loitering over the location of the damaged natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea near Bornholm for several days in a row, September 1, 2, and 3 in particular.
Flightradar24 showed an unidentified aircraft that did not even have a helicopter icon hovering over the site. However, the aircraft's 24-bit ICAO code included in the description makes it possible to establish the model, which is the US military's Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk. The code is verified through open resources that collect data on military aircraft.
The US helicopter is also shown by the aircraft tracking service to have flown into the area of loitering over the Nord Stream pipelines from Gdansk, Poland.
On the second day of the loitering, almost in parallel with their US counterpart, a Dutch navy NH9 helicopter was flying in the vicinity of Bornholm Island, and it is expected to have been observing the Americans' activity.
US helicopters also took flights over other Nord Stream pipelines on September 10 and 19 and others stayed over the incident site for hours on the night of September 22 and September 25.
Reportedly, helicopters that made sorties on the night of September 22-23 and 25-26 have especially confusing tracks.
CIA warned Berlin about Nord Stream attack weeks ahead
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) warned the German government there would be attacks on Nord Stream gas pipelines weeks ahead of any incident being reported around the pipelines, German newspaper Der Spiegel reported Tuesday.
An informed source told the German newspaper that Berlin had been informed by the CIA a few weeks ago that there would be attacks on the key pipelines supplying a huge portion of Europe's energy from Russia.
The media outlet cited several unnamed individuals as confirming that the CIA tipped the German government about the incident that was yet to take place.
It's noteworthy that 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 recorded along the Nord Stream pipelines, according to Swedish seismologists, while Swedish National Seismic Network (SNSN) reported powerful underwater explosions in the area of gas leaks from the Nord Stream pipeline on September 27.
