Berlin hopes to bring those responsible to justice “if we can get hold of them,” the chancellor has said
Germany has nothing to hide in its investigation into the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has insisted, days after Moscow described the probe as “absolutely not transparent.”
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the 2022 blasts that severed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, which transported Russian natural gas to Germany and other parts of Western Europe.
”We call on all security authorities and the Federal Public Prosecutor General to investigate the blasts without regard for anyone,” Scholz said during a meeting with citizens in Prenzlau, Brandenburg, on Saturday.
”Nothing is being covered up, and that should be absolutely clear,” he emphasized, adding, “We want to bring those who did this to justice in Germany if we can get hold of them.”
Last month, multiple German outlets reported that the authorities had issued a first arrest warrant in the case, allegedly for a Ukrainian national identified as “Vladimir Z.”
A few months after the Nord Stream blasts, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh reported – citing whistleblowers and other well-placed sources – that the operation was carried out by US divers. The charges were reportedly set under the guise of the BALTOPS 22 NATO exercises, and detonated on orders from President Joe Biden. Moscow has refrained from openly accusing Washington, but noted that the US stands to gain the most from the disruption of cheap fuel supplies to the EU’s economic powerhouse.
However, according to a narrative promoted by Western media shortly after Hersh’s revelations, the explosions were caused by a small team of pro-Ukrainian commandos who rented a yacht to reach the site, and dived down to set the charges. The CIA and their European counterparts, as well as Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, were reportedly kept out of the loop. More recently, the Wall Street Journal alleged that Zelensky knew about and approved of the operation, and unsuccessfully attempted to halt it.
Commenting on the German investigation into the sabotage on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Berlin has not shared any information with Moscow despite numerous requests. He described the probe as “absolutely not transparent,” and dismissed the claims that six individuals carried out the sabotage impulsively as not credible.
”If someone can actually believe this version, then it’s only people who are afraid of the truth,” Lavrov said. He asserted that Moscow will insist on a transparent investigation, “which is being blocked by the US, Britain, and their allies.”
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