Russia Says U.S. Has Questions to Answer About Nord Stream Explosions

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Russia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday the United States had questions to answer over its role in explosions on the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines last year.

Commenting on a report published earlier on Wednesday that said the United States was involved in the explosions, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the White House to comment on the “facts” This was the case.

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Reuters could not verify the report by Seymour Hersh, an American investigative journalist, which alleges U.S. involvement.

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The White House said on Wednesday that Hersh’s account was “utterly false and complete fiction.”

Moscow, without providing evidence, has repeatedly said the West was behind the explosions affecting the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last September – multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects that carried Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

These allegations have been refuted by Western officials.

“The White House must now comment on all these facts,” Zakharova said in a post on her Telegram page where she summarized Hersh’s main claims regarding the alleged U.S. involvement.

Investigators from Sweden and Denmark – in whose territorial waters the explosions occurred – have said the ruptures were a result of sabotage, but have not said who they believe was responsible.

Russia claimed that Russia had contacted the countries “have something to hide” They deliberately block Russia out of the investigation.

Nord Stream 2, which would have doubled the amount of gas Russia could send directly through the sea to Germany, was constructed in September 2021. It was not put into operation when Berlin canceled its certification, just days before Moscow sent its troops to Ukraine in Feb. (Reporting by Jake Cordell Editing By Gareth Jones