Berlin (CNSNews.com) – Western governments and NATO have responded cautiously to news reporting linking Ukrainians to last year’s sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday the results of ongoing investigations, being conducted by German, Danish and Swedish authorities, should be awaited.
European officials also urged caution, after the New York Times reported Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies were reviewing information pointing to a “pro-Ukrainian group” being behind the blasts last fall.
“Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two,” the report stated. “U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved.”
According to the report, U.S. officials said there was no evidence that the Ukrainian government was involved in the episode. Ukrainian officials have issued denials.
The explosions that damaged the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark and those governments, along with Germany, are leading investigations.
“We need to let these investigations conclude,” U.S. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said on Tuesday. “Only then should we be looking at what follow-on actions might or may not be appropriate.”
Speaking ahead of a meeting of E.U. defense ministers in Stockholm, Stoltenberg said, “There are ongoing national investigations, and I think it’s right to wait until those are finalized before we say anything more about who was behind [the sabotage].”
“What we do know is that there was an attack against the Nord Stream pipelines, an act of sabotage, but we have not been able to determine who was behind [it].”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also cautioned against jumping to conclusions.
“We have to make a clear distinction whether it was a Ukrainian group, whether it may have happened at Ukrainian orders, or a pro-Ukrainian group [acting] without knowledge of the government,” he said.
“It is also being discussed that this could be a so-called false flag operation,” said Pistorius. “This would also not be the first time in the history of such events.”
The German newspaper Die Zeit reported on Tuesday that its joint research with the ARD and SWR public broadcasters found six people involved in the attacks had used a yacht rented by a company registered in Poland and owned by two Ukrainians.
Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s office confirmed that investigators had searched a vessel in January suspected of carrying explosives used in the pipeline blasts. It declined to comment on the origin of the boat and said the identity of the perpetrators was the subject of ongoing investigation.
E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also downplayed the reports, calling them “speculations” at this point.
“As long as investigations are ongoing, we cannot draw definitive conclusions,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said he did not want to jump to “any kind of conclusions about the attribution,” while his Finnish counterpart, Antti Kaikkonen, said, “It is important that we get a very good investigation about that and we get the facts, the sooner the better.”
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, also in Stockholm on Wednesday, said Ukraine had nothing to do with the pipeline sabotage.
Asked whether he was worried that the reports may impact E.U. support for Ukraine, Reznikov replied “I'm not concerned.”
“[Ukraine] has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about ‘pro-[Ukraine] sabotage groups,’” Mykhailo Podoliak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tweeted on Tuesday.
Podoliak in a subsequent tweet suggested that Russia benefited most from the incident, saying they occurred amid Russian “attempts to ‘freeze Europe’ and scare it on the eve of winter.”
“Prior to that, [Russia] attempted to block the NS2 [Nord Stream 2 pipeline] with breakdowns that it allegedly couldn't fix for months. So who benefited from the mishap?”
Russia, meanwhile, poured cold water on the reports.
“Clearly, the authors of the terrorist attack want to distract attention,” the RIA Novosti state news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Peskov said the sabotage operation could only have been carried out “by a well-trained state-sponsored special service. There are not that many of them in the world.”
Moscow has insinuated that the U.S. government was responsible for the sabotage, pointing to claims to that effect by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
Peskov used the opportunity to reiterate calls for it to be involved in the sabotage investigations.
“We are still not allowed in the investigation,” he complained. “Only a few days ago we received notes to that effect from the Danes and Swedes.”
See also:
Russia Wants Further Investigation Into Pipeline Sabotage; US Says It’s Trying to Divert Attention From Ukraine (Feb. 22, 2023)
Administration Denies Claims US Blew Up Nord Stream Pipelines; Kremlin Says Take Them Seriously (Feb. 10, 2023)