NATO calls Nord Stream leaks sabotage, threatens decisive response
"These leaks are causing risks to shipping and substantial environmental damage,” the statement reads.
“We support the investigations underway to determine the origin of the damage.”
The Alliance said it has committed to prepare for, deter, and defend against the coercive use of energy and other hybrid tactics by state and non-state actors.
"Any deliberate attack against Allies’ critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined response," the message said.
The first report of an incident involving the Russia-Europe Nord Stream pipelines occurred on Sept. 26, when the pressure suddenly dropped in the Nord Stream-2 pipeline. On Sept. 27, reports emerged of a similar is-sue with Nord Stream-1. Both gas pipelines, passing along the bottom of the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden and Denmark, were not operational – but were still filled with technical gas for pressurization.
The pressure drop was recorded at a section of the pipeline located at a depth of about 70 meters near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea - just outside the territorial waters of Denmark, but in its exclusive economic zone.
Operating company Nord Stream AG said that the simultaneous destruction of three gas lines in the Baltic Sea is unprecedented and it is not yet possible to estimate the timing of the restoration of the gas transport infrastructure.
The Nord Stream-2 pipeline never entered full use, due to a lack of certification prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Nord Stream-1 pipeline was shut down for maintenance at the end of August, after which it never resumed operation for reasons made up by Moscow.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
