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Officials have expressed concern that sabotage was likely the cause of the three mysterious leaks that hit the NodeStream 1 and NodeStream 2 pipelines on the same day.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters that sabotage cannot be ruled out as the cause behind the unexplained gas leak that hit the Nordstream 1 and Nordstream 2 gas pipelines on September 26. said.
Two pipelines carry natural gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. Both pipelines were out of service but still contained gas at the time of the leak.
“It is unlikely that it was a coincidence. Sabotage cannot be ruled out, but it is too early to draw any conclusions,” says Frederiksen. told Politikena Danish daily newspaper.
Frederiksen was in Poland to attend the opening of the Baltic Sea Pipeline, the iconic ‘valve opening’ on September 27th. The new subsea pipeline is a new gas supply corridor that will bring gas from Norway to Denmark and Poland, with an annual capacity of 10. 1 billion cubic meters per day. The pipeline is seen as a means to reduce the EU’s dependence on fossil fuels from Russia.
Referring to the Nord Stream leak, Frederiksen said: Said The situation was “abnormal” and “abnormal”. “It’s hard to imagine that what’s happening is a coincidence,” she told reporters on Sept. 27.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also suspected overthrow. At the Pipeline ceremony, he told attendees: situation in Ukraine. ”
Separately, at least two U.S. officials released a statement late on September 27 referring to the Nord Stream leak as “clear sabotage.”
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrote on twitter: “I have spoken to my Danish counterpart, Jan-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, about the apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline. We will continue to work to protect our energy security.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price said minutes later issued a statement We use the same terminology to describe leaks.
“Secretary of State Anthony J. Brinken spoke today with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofford about apparent sabotage along the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. “We will continue to stand united with our allies and partners in our commitment to do so.” statement.
Simultaneous Destruction “Unprecedented”
The operator of the network, Nord Stream AG, issued a statement pointing out the close timing of the three leaks. He told reporters, according to Reuters.
“At present, it is not possible to estimate a timeframe for restoring the gas transportation infrastructure,” the operator said in a separate statement. statement“The investigation will reveal the cause of the incident.”
When asked about the damaged pipeline, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: told reporters “There are no options that can be ruled out at this time,” state news agency TASS reported.
he also said Russia is “extremely concerned” about leaks. “Certainly, this is an issue related to energy security across the continent,” Peskov said.
Gas deliveries from Russia to Germany and Central Europe are currently only possible via the Yamal pipeline through Poland or the Ukrainian pipeline network.
Nord Stream 1 was the main source of Russian gas to Europe until the Russian state oil and gas company Gazprom shut down gas for maintenance on August 19. In early September, Gazprom announced it had abandoned plans to indefinitely resume gas flow through its pipeline to Germany, saying an oil leak in a critical turbine had not yet been fixed. Russia accuses international sanctions over the war in Ukraine of hampering regular maintenance of the pipeline.
Nord Stream 2, on the other hand, did not go live. Germany stopped certification of its gas pipelines in February, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the time, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to approve the pipeline in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of the independence of his two separate Russian-backed regions in eastern Ukraine. said it is.
In February, before Russia invaded Ukraine, President Joe Biden warned that Nord Stream 2 would not advance if Russia invaded Ukraine.
“If Russia invades – if tanks and troops cross Ukraine’s borders again – Nord Stream 2 will cease to exist.” He said At a press conference with Scholz on February 7. When asked how that could be achieved given Nordstream 2 is under German control, Biden said:
Bryan Jung contributed to this report.
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Mimi Nguyen Ly covers world news with a focus on US news. Please contact her at [email protected]
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