Kremlin comments after another EU state drops Nord Stream probe

RT
Mon, 26 Feb 2024 14:05 UTC

© Swedish Coast Guard via Getty Images

FILE PHOTO: Baltic Sea gas leak from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in September 2022.

Copenhagen must have found "close allies" when searching for the culprits behind the sabotage, a spokesman has suggested

The Danish decision to end its investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea was probably motivated by Copenhagen's unwillingness to establish the truth about the crime, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has suggested.

The energy links built to bring Russian natural gas directly to Germany were ruptured by unknown perpetrators in a series of explosions in September 2022. Germany as well as Denmark and Sweden, in whose economic zones the sabotage took place, had each launched separate inquiries. Sweden closed its probe earlier this month.

The Copenhagen Police do not see "sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case in Denmark" over the incident, they said on Monday in a statement announcing the development. The probe, conducted jointly with the Danish Security and Intelligence Services (PET), was "complex and comprehensive" and resulted in a conclusion that the incident was deliberate sabotage. Nothing was said about possible suspects in the press-release.

The situation is "close to absurd," Peskov told journalists when asked about the news.

"Apparently, they were getting closer to, as they call it, outing their closest allies," he suggested. "One can only express absolute astonishment and nothing else."

Denmark said investigators cooperated with "relevant foreign partners," but Peskov stressed that Russian law enforcement was not among those.

"In the early stages of the investigation, we consistently asked the Danes for information about what had happened, but the requests were rejected," he said.

A German government spokesman said Berlin remained very interested in getting to the bottom of the crime.

Western media initially rushed to accuse Russia of disabling its own critical infrastructure. Subsequent reports said European investigators found no evidence to support this theory. Leaks to the press identified a "pro-Ukrainian group" and a specific Ukrainian officer currently held in Kiev's custody under a separate case as potential culprits.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed the finger at the CIA, claiming that the Americans were behind the sabotage, when he discussed Nord Stream with journalist Tucker Carlson in a recent interview. He declined to say what evidence led him to that conclusion.

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh said in February of 2023 that, according to his source, US President Joe Biden personally ordered the bombing of the pipelines. The journalist claimed Biden was seeking to cement Germany's antagonism towards Russia in the Ukraine conflict and ensure the EU's long-term reliance on Western energy. The White House denied the allegation, but Putin has said he found Hersh's reasoning plausible.

Comment: As if coordinated in an operation lockstep, only three weeks ago, Sweden came to the same result.
Sweden halts Nord Stream investigation, hands off to Germany, as Hersh fills in more blanks and not only:
NATO subservience: Sweden announces its largest-ever Ukraine aid package
The case was complicated, here is another angle, and not the links in the comments.
Independent investigator: Elements of UK government behind Nord Stream attacks
While Sweden still has aid to give, Denmark needs to increase the taxes. From the same source:
Raise taxes to fight Russia - EU state's PM

The "naive" West should realize that security comes at a price, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says
[...]

EU nations must prioritize defense spending by carving out money from social programs to deter Russia amid the Ukraine conflict, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has argued.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday, Frederiksen said the EU should try to avoid the mistakes of the 1930s, when the continent failed to check Nazi Germany's expansion, and focus on what she called a "more aggressive Russia" by "scaling up" defense.

Russia has stated that one of its key objectives in the Ukraine conflict is to "denazify" the neighboring country. Kiev's failure to implement the Minsk agreements, which were designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state, was a significant contributory factor to the conflict.

Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev's goal regarding the agreements was to use the ceasefire to buy time and "create powerful armed forces," a position which was later echoed by ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ex-French President Francois Hollande, who helped broker the agreement.

Frederiksen urged European powers "to admit that we haven't used enough money on our own defense and security" since the end of the Cold War, pouring funds into welfare and tax reduction instead.

It could be argued that the Danish PM expresses a trend of the times: Rise of the War Harpies: The Women Destroying our World, but is it a malicious intent, cunning or fear? Perhaps he PM is on board with
Putin defeated US plan for Russia - Nuland though considering Nuland accidentally reveals the true aim of the West in Ukraine:

"And by the way, we have to remember that the bulk of this money is going right back into the US to make those weapons," Nuland said

the Danish PM appears to be advocating for a win-win. A win by pouring EU tax money into the US Military-Industrial Complex, and advertising the carrot of defeating Russia to protect US hegemony in Europe. The reaction of the Danish PM comes while others say: Washington's 'credibility at stake' - Polish FM or 'Russia must win this war' - Canada's Trudeau, and France creates coalition to arm Ukraine with long-range weapons How it all began was never of much interest to these countries, only few talk about it: Slovakia's PM Fico: Ukraine's 'rampant neo-Nazis' were cause of war, Kiev NATO membership is attempt to start WWIII