UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council met Friday on the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines, on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of the attack on the pipelines in the Baltic Sea, at the request of Russia.
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's representative to the United Nations, lamenting the lack of collective decision or council statements on the matter, criticized his Western colleagues' "duplicitous manoeuvres to obstruct the work of the Security Council," and said Russia will not be deterred in establishing the truth, determining who is responsible for the explosions and punishing them.
Nebenzia expressed disappointment over the national investigations by Denmark and Sweden. "The only conclusion that was drawn, following 18 months of work, was that the Nord Stream pipelines had indeed been deliberately destroyed using explosive devices. Yet, it appeared not possible to continue criminal proceedings within the Danish and Swedish jurisdictions," he said.
The ongoing investigation by the German authorities was much like the completed investigations by Denmark and Sweden and is being conducted in "a completely non-transparent manner," he said, adding that German authorities' failure to date to provide information, not even interim results, raises doubts and has resulted in media conjecture, which must be countered with facts.
He noted that Moscow's requests for legal assistance, as an affected party, sent to all three states were simply ignored, and all attempts by Russia to reach a council agreement calling on Germany to make the probe transparent and expedite its investigation were "always blocked by the U.S. and its allies."
Mozambique's delegate also criticized the national investigations, saying there is "international speculation that the investigation is being deliberately protracted due to the potential diplomatic repercussions and the risk of escalation should the perpetrators' identities be revealed." He called for a transparent and conclusive investigation.
The representative of France said Russia's characterization of the explosions as a terrorist attack requires the establishment of facts.
The delegate of the United States denied Russia's accusation that Washington was involved in the explosions, saying, "There is no shred of evidence of U.S. involvement and there never will be because the United States was not involved."
Condemning attacks against critical civilian and energy infrastructures anywhere, Malta's representative voiced support for all national investigations into the incident.
Between Sept. 26 and 29, 2022, four leaks were detected in the Nord Stream offshore natural gas pipelines, near the island of Bornholm in Denmark, which run from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. After the incident, Danish, German and Swedish officials launched separate investigations into the leaks.
In February, Danish and Swedish authorities informed the Security Council that they had closed their respective investigations, citing insufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case. ■
