RTFri, 10 Feb 2023 16:57 UTC
© Sputnik/Russian Foreign MinistryRussian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Friday.
The veteran investigative journalist
reported on Wednesday that the US was behind the destruction of the Baltic Sea pipelines in September 2022.
American divers planted charges under the cover of a NATO exercise, and a Norwegian airplane detonated them remotely when the time came, Hersh wrote.Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday, answering a question about Hersh's article:
"It would not be typical for us to engage allies and partners on something that is utter and complete nonsense."
Zakharova said she was astonished by Price's audacity to call "nonsense" what
US President Joe Biden and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland openly described as their preferred outcome.
"The US is once again lying live on air, openly mocking journalists who asked fully justified questions."
Washington also has a history of targeting civilian petrochemical infrastructure, Zakharova noted, citing the
1983 CIA sabotage of a pipeline in Nicaragua as an example."You did this, you do this, and you will do this until you're stopped," the spokeswoman added.
As for bringing allies and partners into "nonsense," Zakharova argued that this was precisely what "trans-Atlantic solidarity" means in practice, referring to the 2003 invasion of Iraq as one example.
"Twenty years ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell brought to the UN Security Council a vial of something, and called [on] allies and partners to invade a sovereign state, without any evidence, over claims that proved to be utter nonsense. Ned, do you know your own department's history? I have no doubts that at the State Department they are bad with the history of their own country. That's why we are where we are."
Explosions that damaged both Nord Stream pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm cut off the flow of Russian natural gas to Germany. US officials tried to blame Russia for the blasts, while expressing delight at the destruction and
calling it an "opportunity" for Europe.
The White House has denounced Hersh's report as "utterly false and complete fiction."Zakharova noted that Denmark and Sweden had refused Russian offers to assist with the investigation, while Norway declined to provide aid citing EU sanctions, adding that
this shows the three governments were not interested in finding out the truth, but rather covering it up.
Comment: As the Hersh report has turned this act of sabotage on its head...the fallout should be spectacular.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Friday that Washington owed the world an explanation, following the publication of journalist Seymour Hersh's report, claiming the US was behind the September 2022 attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
"We have noted the reports," Mao Ning said, responding to a question from Dragon TV. She added that the two Nord Stream pipelines were "vital transnational infrastructure" and that their destruction caused a serious economic and environmental impact.
"If Hersh is telling the truth, what he revealed is clearly unacceptable and must be answered for. The US owes the world a responsible explanation."
A follow-up question from the Beijing Youth Daily pointed out the sparse coverage of Hersh's report by the "free, professional and impartial" US outlets.
Mao responded:
"It only proves that some media outlets care little about the truth. They pretend not to see the truth that really matters and, more often than not, try to sell false narratives rather than the truth."
Hersh, an investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize laureate, published a report titled How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline on Wednesday. He cited a "source with direct knowledge of the operational planning" of the attack on the Russia-Germany pipelines.
He claims a bomb was planted by the US during the BALTOPS 22 NATO exercises, and the explosive was then detonated by Norway dropping a sonar buoy from a military plane.
US Department of State spokesman Ned Price was asked about Hersh's report on Thursday and dismissed it as "utter and complete nonsense." He went on to label it as "propaganda" that he did not want to see "aired in the briefing room."
In Germany, which jointly funded the construction of the Nord Stream pipelines, members of the AfD party demanded a discussion on the article and its claims in the country's parliament on Friday. "The Bundestag has a right to know what the federal government knows," said the party's official Twitter account, citing parliamentary group leader Tino Chrupalla.
Comment: As the Hersh report has turned this act of sabotage on its head...the fallout should be spectacular.