Sweden, Europe Brief News – A new leak has been discovered in a major undersea pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to the EU.
The leak is the fourth of its kind to be discovered this week.
Denmark and Sweden reported gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines earlier this week.
Nato said the incidents were the result of “deliberate, reckless and irresponsible acts of sabotage”.
Russia dismissed suggestions that it had attacked its own pipelines as “predictable and stupid”.
Instead, the Russian foreign ministry said the blasts had occurred in “zones controlled by American intelligence”.
The German ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, said it was clear that a non-state actor could not have been behind the incidents – in other words, a country must have been responsible.The mysterious leak occurred although the Kremlin shut down the pipeline earlier this month for an indefinite period of time in retaliation for Western sanctions.
Brussels charged that a “deliberate” action was behind the mysterious gas leaks identified on the two Russian-operated Nord Stream pipelines.
The infrastructure is at the centre of geopolitical tensions between the EU and Russia. It has been accused of manipulating gas supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions.
