On May 7 (Moscow time), TASS news agency quoted Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev as saying that Moscow believes that the fact that those behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines have not been dealt with is creating a dangerous "chain reaction".
Speaking in Potsdam, Germany, Mr. Nechayev questioned who was behind the attack on the gas pipeline system. Moscow considers this an act of terrorism and believes that this is "no longer a controversial issue", even with the German government.
However, Mr. Nechayev said that the Russian side has not yet received a clear answer about the perpetrator. He rejected the hypothesis that the incident was carried out by a group of amateur divers using yachts, and said that it is necessary to identify the organizer and perpetrator of the sabotage.
The Russian Ambassador also criticized the German law enforcement agency for lack of transparency in the investigation process. These agencies currently remain silent on many related issues.
Mr. Nechayev warned that the unclear handling of the Nord Stream case could encourage further destabilizing actions against energy infrastructure. He mentioned incidents related to TurkStream and the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline, and accused Ukraine and some other parties of trying to disrupt gas supplies to Europe.
Regarding these developments, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on April 5 that Serbian authorities had discovered a batch of explosives near the gas pipeline connecting Serbia with Hungary. Director of the Serbian Military Security Agency Djuro Jovanic later said that intelligence suspected a foreign citizen was behind this plot. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied involvement in the incident.
The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosions occurred on September 26, 2022, destroying 3 pipelines in the system. Only one pipeline belonging to Nord Stream 2 remains intact.
Nord Stream is a 1,224km long pipeline under the Baltic Sea, connecting Russia's Vyborg with Germany's Greifswald. Nord Stream 2 has a designed capacity of about 55 billion m3 of gas per year, completed on September 10, 2021 but has never been put into operation.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office considers the incident an act of international terrorism. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the investigation process is being hindered.
On April 29, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia could bring the case to the International Court of Justice if Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland did not conduct a fair and transparent investigation.
