NEW YORK – The starting point for clarifying the sabotage of Nord Stream 1 and 2 is this declaration by the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Joseph Borrell: “All the information indicates that the losses are the result of a deliberate act. You will receive a robust and unified response.” The point of arrival is that Europe can no longer rely on Russian supplies, and must accelerate the race to alternative sources, not least because the damage of salt water to gas pipelines could be irreparable.
As for the responsibilities, waiting for the international investigation, few doubt that the attack was launched from Moscow to leave Europe in the cold during the winter, without however paying the penalties that it would have had to pay if it had turned off the taps, violating the contracts already signed. The most direct explanation of the attack, which the UN Security Council will discuss tomorrow, is the one given by the Polish Foreign Minister Six: “The explosions took place very close to Danish territorial waters, but not inside, because this would have meant hitting NATO territory”, forcing the Alliance to react. “Someone tries to intimidate the countries of the Baltic Sea. With the exception of Russia, all these countries are members of NATO or aspire to be part of it”, and therefore nothing else is needed to understand the culprit.
The spokesman for the Kremlin Peskov called these accusations “predictable and stupid”, while the foreign colleague Zakharova said “Biden has to say whether the US is responsible” because he warned in February that he would block Nord Stream 2. The White House replied that it is a ridiculous question, Secretary of State Blinken added that destroying the pipelines “does not it’s in nobody’s interest. ” Biden’s spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, he said: “We are helping the investigation and we will be close to the European and NATO allies” to overcome the emergency. He did not confirm whether the US has increased security measures for their infrastructure and ships carrying liquid gas, and whether they consider the sabotage of Nord Stream 1 and 2 as an attack on NATO, but he did not rule it out: “Let’s wait the outcome of the investigation, and on the basis of this we will react “.
Gas leaks from Nord Stream pipelines. The weakness of the West is on the seabed
by Gianluca Di Feo
The German media wrote that the CIA had warned Berlin of the risk of sabotage, while Germany, Norway and the EU have strengthened the defenses of the infrastructures. The attack was discussed on NATO, and despite public prudence, no one doubts that it was launched by Russia. Putin he had, however, decided to leave Europe freezing during the winter, forgoing gas revenues, in the hopes of provoking the reaction of the people to force governments to end sanctions against Moscow and military supplies to Kiev. If he had turned off the taps, however, he would have had to pay the penalties for violated contracts, while so he will argue that it was an accident.
The US, however, does not allow itself to be intimidated. Yesterday they asked their citizens to leave Russia, “as long as there are means of transport”. Then they announced a new $ 1.1 billion package of military supplies, to consolidate the territories taken over by the Ukrainians and continue the counter-offensive in the regions where the farce of the referendums for annexation was held, which Washington will have the Assembly condemned. UN General. The US will help its European allies, where however Russian gas supplies have dropped from 45% to 14% of the total, but they interpret all these moves as a sign of Putin’s desperation. Last month the Russian government budget went into deficit as oil prices fall. Added to the sanctions in force, the eighth package presented by the president of the European Commission Von der Leyenthe rising costs of mobilization, and the need to rebuild lost weapons, the situation puts the Kremlin back to the wall.