Copenhagen has rejected all contact regarding the investigation, the Russian ambassador has said
A gas leak from the Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea, September 30, 2022. © Danish Defence / AFP
Denmark is setting a dangerous precedent by refusing to cooperate with Russia on an investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Moscow’s ambassador to Copenhagen, Vladimir Barbin, said on Monday.
“There is still no substantive information about investigative activities and any preliminary results,” Barbin told the Izvestia newspaper.
The envoy added that Copenhagen has “rejected any contact with Russia regarding this criminal case, and doesn’t show any interest in organizing an independent international investigation.”
The pipelines built to deliver gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea were attacked in September 2022. Although the damage was discovered in international waters, the area is within the economic zones of Denmark and Sweden.
Denmark, Sweden, and Germany have launched separate probes into the sabotage, but no concrete findings have been revealed so far.
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Barbin claimed that Denmark’s attitude sets a “dangerous precedent” by abandoning joint efforts to fight terrorism and crime in favor of acting on the basis of “bloc membership.”
Last month, the UN Security Council refused to back Moscow’s call for an international probe. Nevertheless, Barbin stated that Russia will continue to “demand a comprehensive, transparent, and impartial investigation of all aspects of the sabotage on the pipelines, including the identification of the culprits, their sponsors, organizers, and accomplices.”
US Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh claimed in February that Washington had orchestrated the sabotage with help from Norway. The US dismissed the allegations as “complete fiction.”
Western media reports later suggested that a Ukrainian-linked group may have been behind the attack, although Kiev denied any involvement. The Kremlin, meanwhile, said that the reports were directed at diverting attention from the real perpetrators.
