Gas pipeline leaks
Investigative reporter: USA are said to have triggered Nord Stream 2 explosion – CIA contradicts
Gas escaped from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines during explosions in September
© – / Danish Defense Command / DPA
A US investigative journalist blames the US for leaks in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The secret service denied.
The US has denied a report by well-known investigative reporter Seymour Hersh that US Navy divers were responsible for the detonation of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last September. “This claim is completely and utterly false,” a spokesman for the CIA told AFP on Wednesday.
Hersh previously reported that US Navy divers planted explosives on the gas pipelines in a White House-ordered covert operation last June. The explosive devices were then remotely detonated in September with the help of Norway. Hersh, an 85-year-old reporter legend, appears to be citing a single source for his report. He published the report on his blog and not in a major US media outlet.
In September, a total of four explosions in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark in the Baltic Sea caused several leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which were built to transport Russian gas to Germany. The pipelines were not operating at the time of the explosions but contained gas. According to Sweden, sabotage is behind the incident. Accordingly, explosive residues were detected.
Joe Biden promised: “Then there will be no more Nord Stream 2”
Suspicion was immediately directed at Russia, but Moscow denied any responsibility. Just a few days ago, Attorney General Peter Frank said in an interview that there was no evidence that Russia was the author.
Russia, in turn, indicated shortly after the detonations that the United States could be responsible for the explosions. “The US President must answer the question of whether the US has implemented its threat,” a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said at the time.
The background was statements made by US President Joe Biden in February 2022 during a visit to Washington by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Several weeks before the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began, Biden warned that if Russia invaded the neighboring country, “there will be no more Nord Stream 2”. He “promised” that, emphasized the President, without giving any further details. “We will put an end to this.”
At that time, the question was whether the USA could try to impose sanctions on the operating company Nord Stream 2 AG to prevent the pipeline from being put into operation. It was then the federal government that put an end to Nord Stream 2: Shortly before the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Berlin put the project on hold. Scholz was reacting to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of the independence of the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.