TOKYO: The US and other Western countries are trying to cover up the traces of their involvement in blasts at Nord Stream gas pipelines, ...
TOKYO: The US and other Western countries are trying to cover up the traces of their involvement in blasts at Nord Stream gas pipelines, Kim Jong Gyu, director general of the Russian Affairs Department of the North Korean Foreign Ministry, has said.
"The US and the West flatly rejected Russia's just proposal to conduct an international joint investigation, involving Russia as a directly related party, under the observation of the UN. Furthermore, they have never informed Russia of their investigation results. This is just a petty trick to cover up the traces of their involvement in the sabotage crime," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The international community should voice support for Russia’s "fair and reasonable demand" to carry out an unbiased and detailed investigation into Nord Stream blasts with the participation of Russian investigative authorities and interested parties, Kim Jong Gyu noted.
The whole situation once again "brings to light the impudent double-standard policy and black-hearted design of the US and the West working hard to demonize the independent countries by painting a black picture of them, frequently talking about ‘fairness’ and ‘objectivity’," he added.
On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported unprecedented damage that occurred the day before on three strings of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines. On September 26, 2022, Swedish seismologists registered two explosions on the pipeline routes. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office launched a criminal case in connection with the incident based on charges of international terrorism. Germany, Denmark and Sweden announced conducting their own national investigations, though they refused to allow Russia to join them.
On February 8, US’ Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in an article, citing a source, that US Navy divers, with the assistance of Norwegian specialists, planted explosive devices under the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines under the cover of the Baltops exercise in June 2022. According to Hersh, US President Joe Biden made the decision to conduct the operation following nine months of consultations with national security officials.
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