NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday it was not yet clear who was responsible for the explosion of Nord Stream pipelines last year, as investigations into the incidents were not yet complete. .
“We know there was an attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, but we have not been able to determine who was behind it,” Stoltenberg said ahead of a meeting with EU defense ministers in Stockholm. “Countries are doing their own investigations right now and I think it’s fair to wait until they’re done before we say more about who’s behind it all.”
Recall that on Tuesday, the New York Times reported that new information studied by American officials indicated that a “pro-Ukrainian group” had blown up the gas pipeline.
German TV channel ARD and Die Zeit reported on Tuesday that a group of five men and one woman, whose nationality is unknown, rented a yacht from a Polish company owned by Ukrainian citizens using fake passports.
“We need to clearly define if it was a Ukrainian group, if it could have happened on the orders of Ukraine, or a pro-Ukrainian group (operated) without the knowledge of the government. But I recommend not jumping to conclusions,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on the sidelines of the Stockholm summit.
Earlier, Pistorius pointed out that the likelihood of this being “a staged operation to blame Ukraine” is “no less high”.
Germany, meanwhile, has confirmed that traces of explosives were found on a yacht that may have been used for sabotage in January. But a German federal prosecutor said in a statement that there was not yet reliable information about the motives or the perpetrators, including whether the sabotage was state-sponsored.
Also in Stockholm, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said the media reports were “a bit strange” and had “nothing to do” with the Ukrainian government.
“It’s not our job,” he said.
