New intelligence reviewed by US officials suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last year, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
There was no evidence that president Volodymyr Zelenskiy or his top lieutenants in Ukraine were involved in the operation, or that the perpetrators were acting at the direction of any Ukrainian government officials, the newspaper reported, citing US officials.
Russia has clashed with the United States and other western nations over the Kremlin’s call for a UN investigation into last September’s sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to western Europe.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzia told the UN Security Council Moscow has “no trust” in the separate investigations being carried out by Denmark, Sweden and Germany, but does “fully trust” UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to establish an independent international investigation into the explosions.
The US, UK, France and others said authorities from the three countries are still investigating the pipeline attacks and the real reason Russia has raised Nord Stream 1 and 2 now is to divert attention from the first anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine and high-level UN activities for the next three days, including adoption of a General Assembly resolution condemning Moscow’s action.
