Germany’s Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius voiced caution on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, over media reports that a pro-Ukraine group was involved in blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year.
German news outlets reported on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, that investigators were able to largely reconstruct how the pipelines from Russia to Germany were sabotaged on the night of Sept. 26, 2022.
Citing multiple unnamed officials, the news outlets reported that five men and a woman used a yacht hired by a Ukrainian-owned company in Poland to carry out the attack. German federal prosecutors confirmed that a boat was searched in January.
The New York Times also reported on Tuesday that U.S. officials reviewed intelligence that suggested a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the blasts.
Boris Pistorius on Wednesday warned of drawing conclusions too hastily following the report.
Speaking on the side lines of a European Union Defense Ministers meeting, Pistorius disclosed that some experts also had raised the possibility of a so-called false flag operation by a group pretending to be Ukrainian.
“It would not be the first time in the history of such events. As such, I’m refraining from drawing premature conclusions.”
Boris Pistorius
Asked whether the reports could undermine Western support for Ukraine, Pistorius remarked that he preferred to respond once he had reliable information. “Anything else is hypothetical,” he added.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov rejected suggestions that the attack might have been ordered by Kyiv.
“It’s like a compliment for our special forces, but this is not our activity,” he told reporters in Stockholm.
According to the German media reports, the suspects used forged passports when hiring the boat, which set off from the German port of Rostock. A captain, two divers, two diving assistants and a doctor made up the group.
Germany’s Federal Prosecutors Office declined to comment directly on the reports. However, it confirmed that investigators conducted a search from Jan. 18-20 “in connection with a suspicious boat hire.”
A Coordinated Manipulation
Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday described the media reports alleging Ukrainian involvement in the Nord Stream explosions as a coordinated manipulation intended to cover up the organizers of the attack.
“The masterminds of the terror attack clearly want to distract attention,” Peskov said in remarks carried by the state news agency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his officials have accused the U.S. of staging the pipeline explosions, which they described as a terror attack.
Peskov again noted that Russia was denied access to evidence from the investigation. He called for a transparent international probe.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have long been a target of criticism by the United States and some of its allies, who warned that they posed a risk to Europe’s energy security by increasing dependence on Russian gas.
Germany halted certification of the still-uncommissioned Nord Stream 2 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Moscow stopped the flow of gas in Nord Stream 1 weeks before the attack.
Dutch gas transport and storage company Gasunie disclosed on Wednesday that it does not expect the sabotaged Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines to come back into service any time soon and has written off its multimillion-euro investment in the project.
“In the current geopolitical context, Gasunie does not foresee a resumption of gas deliveries via Nord Stream for the foreseeable future and, as a result, does not expect to receive any more dividends,” the company disclosed in its annual report.
Gasunie, whose transportation and storage activities serve the Netherlands and parts of Germany, had invested 508 million euros for a 9% stake in Nord Stream.
It slashed the value of the investment in July to 240 million euros and now has written it off entirely.
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