Concerns have been raised that possible sabotage could have been behind the leaks discovered at two gas pipelines linking Russia and Europe in the Baltic Sea.
European leaders believe this to be the case after seismologists reported explosions around the Nord Stream pipelines.
European commission president Ursula Von der Leyen said the Nord Stream II leaks were due to “sabotage”, and threatened the “strongest possible response” to any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure.
“Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest possible response,” she warned, and urged and investigation to get full clarity on the “events and why”.
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen described them as “deliberate acts”, adding: “We are not talking about an accident.”
A seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm, near where the leaks occurred, twice recorded spikes on September 26, the day on which the Nord Stream I and II gas pipelines underwent dramatic falls in pressure, the German geological research centre GFZ said.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has spoken to Danish foreign minister Jeppe Kofod about the “apparent sabotage”, said US state department spokesman Ned Price. “The United States remains united with our allies and partners in our commitment to promoting European energy security,” he said.
Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the leaks were an act of sabotage that “probably marks the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine”.
Nord Stream gas leaks ‘could be sabotage’
