The Kremlin commented on the incident at the Nord Stream

MOSCOW, 29 Sep — PRIME. A terrorist action on the lines of the Nord Stream could hardly have taken place without the involvement of some state, said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia.

“It’s very difficult to imagine that such a terrorist action could take place without the involvement of some state,” he said, answering a question from journalists about whether the Kremlin assesses the incident on the Nord Stream strings as a terrorist act, or at least as an incident bearing the character of an international terrorist act.

Peskov clarified that the scale of the destruction indicates that this is indeed some kind of act.

“This is exactly an incident, so far we cannot give a clearer qualification, but the scale of the destruction indicates that this is indeed some kind of act,” he said.

The spokesman also noted that CNN’s statements about Russian ships and submarines allegedly seen in the emergency area are stupid and biased.

“This area is the Baltic Sea, much more flying, floating and other marine vehicles that belong to NATO countries were seen there, so this is such completely stupid news that, let’s say, is biased,” he said, answering a question from journalists about CNN reports about Russian ships and submarines allegedly seen in the area of ​​the accident on the Nord Stream strings.

COOPERATION IN THE INVESTIGATION

Peskov said that Russia and the United States do not have substantive contacts through the special services, but the situation with the Nord Stream incident requires active and prompt cooperation. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the incident took place in a zone controlled by US intelligence.

“It is impossible to answer this question, because we do not have any substantive contacts and cooperation between security agencies. At the same time, the unprecedented nature of this event. It seems that this is such a terrorist act, possibly at the state level, of course, requires very active and vigorous cooperation. This is an extremely dangerous situation that requires urgent investigation,” the spokesman said, answering the question whether cooperation between the Russian Federation and the United States in the investigation of the incident is possible under the current conditions.

When asked whether Moscow would seek an international investigation into the incident, the Kremlin spokesman replied that “everything will depend on the situation.”

“Of course, the interaction of several countries will be required here. In conditions where there is such an acute lack of communication and the unwillingness of so many countries to contact us in such sensitive areas, a lot of questions arise,” he said.

RESTARTING THE GAS PIPELINES

Peskov did not answer the question about the possible timing of the restart of Nord Stream, calling it technical.

“This is a technical question, we cannot answer it,” he said, answering a question from journalists about whether Nord Stream will ever be restarted.

On Monday, incidents occurred simultaneously on two Russian export gas pipelines to Europe. According to information from the authorities of Denmark and Sweden, two gas leaks were discovered at Nord Stream and one at Nord Stream 2 near the island of Bornholm. Germany, Denmark and Sweden do not rule out targeted sabotage.

The Russian side officially requested information from Denmark about the emergency at Nord Stream as soon as the incident became known. The Danish authorities notified the Russian Federation about the explosions at the site of the gas leak. The operator of Nord Stream, Nord Stream AG, reported that the state of emergency on gas pipelines was unprecedented, and it was impossible to estimate the timing of repairs.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation initiated the initiation of a case on an act of international terrorism after the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines. First Deputy Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said that an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with sabotage against the Nord Stream gas pipeline was scheduled for 22.00 Moscow time on Friday.