(Reuters) New intelligence reviewed by U.S. officers suggests {that a} pro-Ukrainian group of possible Ukrainian or Russian nationals carried out the assault on the Nord Stream pipelines final 12 months, however the intelligence reached no agency conclusions, the New York Occasions reported.
There was no proof that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy or his prime lieutenants had been concerned, or that the perpetrators had been performing on the path of any Ukrainian authorities officers, the newspaper reported, citing U.S. officers.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the report, and U.S. officers didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Representatives for Kyiv and Moscow additionally couldn’t be instantly reached.
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The US and NATO have referred to as the September 2022 assaults on the pipelines that spewed fuel into the Baltic Sea “an act of sabotage,” whereas Moscow has blamed the West. Neither facet has supplied proof.
Constructed by Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom, the Nord Stream fuel pipelines join Russia and Germany. They’ve grow to be a flashpoint throughout Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Representatives for Gazprom additionally didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The intelligence evaluate suggests those that carried out the assaults opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin “however doesn’t specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation,” the Occasions wrote.
“U.S. officers declined to reveal the character of the intelligence, the way it was obtained or any particulars of the energy of the proof it accommodates. They’ve stated that there are not any agency conclusions about it,” it added, citing the unnamed officers.
“Officers who’ve reviewed the intelligence stated they believed the saboteurs had been most definitely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some mixture of the 2. U.S. officers stated no American or British nationals had been concerned,” in accordance with the Occasions report.
The European nations the place the pipeline traveled are investigating, and the U.S. State Division has stated it isn’t get together to the probe and is deferring to these nations.
Russia final month referred to as on the United Nations Safety Council to independently examine.
Within the 12 months for the reason that invasion, Europe has drastically minimize its vitality imports from Russia. Moscow this week referred to as for all Nord Stream stakeholders to resolve its destiny after three of the 4 pipelines had been destroyed within the assaults.
German vitality firm E.ON, one of many shareholders of the Nord Stream pipeline, declined to remark.
