The UN Security Council did not adopt the Russian resolution on the creation of a commission to investigate the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The document was supported by three countries – Russia, China and Brazil, 12 abstained, no votes against, informed CASS. To pass, it was necessary to collect at least nine votes out of 15.
At a meeting of the UN Security Council, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the World Organization Vasily Nebenzya informed that Moscow has serious and justified doubts about the transparency of Denmark’s, Germany’s and Sweden’s investigations into Nord Stream. The diplomat noted that the formation of an independent international commission “is particularly important in the context of the emergence of new facts, as well as versions of what happened with varying degrees of reliability or absurdity, multiplying in the media”.
According to Nebenzi, the representatives of the countries who doubt the advisability of carrying out an international investigation believe that “one must first wait for the completion of the national investigations”, but they “could last for years in the same ineffective and unhelpful way. transparent”.
“Precious time is passing and there is growing suspicion that the efforts of these investigations are not aimed at clarifying the circumstances of the sabotage, but at hiding the evidence and cleaning up the crime scene,” added the permanent representative of Russia to the UN.
The preparation of a draft resolution on holding an independent international investigation into the Nord Stream bombings under the auspices of UN Secretary General António Guterres became known in mid-February. Then Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the World Organization Dmitry Polyansky informed on the distribution of the document to the UN Security Council and the intention to request a vote on it. However, in the end, Russia did not immediately put the draft to a vote, but invited the countries of the Security Council to discuss it. Since then, three rounds of consultations have taken place.
The draft document provides that an international commission headed by the UN Secretary General should conduct a “thorough, transparent and impartial investigation into all aspects of the act of sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines”, including to identify the perpetrators, sponsors, organizers of the sabotage and their accomplices.” It is assumed that Guterres should have selected specialists for this.
The document also calls on countries conducting national investigations into the Nord Stream explosions to fully cooperate with the commission and share information with it and other stakeholders.
On March 23, Polyansky announced that China was a co-sponsor of the text of the draft resolution, but “other countries may also appear.”
“We dutifully carried out expert work on the text for a month, removing all controversial points for constructive-minded partners. As a result, Westerners, who by defiance did not participate in this work, found themselves with only one “argument”: an international investigation is not necessary, because they trust the investigations of Denmark, Sweden and of Germany. » writing he is in his telegram channel.
China, following a vote in the UN Security Council on March 27, regretted that the decision to create an international commission had not been supported. Deputy Representative of China to the UN Geng Shuang declared that the sabotage of gas pipelines affects security not only in Europe, but also in the world, which is why the investigation must be carried out as soon as possible.
“Some countries believe that it is not necessary for the Security Council to authorize an international investigation at a time when the States concerned are carrying out investigations at the national level. In fact, the international investigation and the investigations at the national level do not contradict each other,” he said.
The Chinese diplomat also noted that “an international investigation under the aegis of the UN can play a coordinating role between various investigations at the national level”.
According to TASS, besides China, the resolution was also co-sponsored by Belarus, Venezuela, North Korea, Nicaragua, Syria and Eritrea. These countries are not members of the UN Security Council, so they did not participate in the vote.
Explosions at Nord Stream
On September 26, 2022, three of the four strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were damaged by explosions. NATO called it was the result of sabotage, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said the explosion was staged by the “Anglo-Saxons”. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also referred to the West’s responsibility for the pipeline explosion.
On February 8, 2023, American journalist Seymour Hersh published an article titled “How America Destroyed the Nord Stream Pipeline”. In it, he, citing a source “directly familiar with operational planning”, said the United States had planned and carried out the undermining of the gas pipelines with the help of Norwegian authorities and the navy. According to Hersh, the operation was developed even before the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
On March 1, 2023, The New York Times wrote that according to US intelligence, Nord Stream could have been destroyed by a “pro-Ukrainian group” not associated with official Kiev.
On the same day, Germany’s Die Zeit reported that a vessel rented in Poland by a company owned by two Ukrainians had been used to undermine gas pipelines. Hersh claims that the CIA and German intelligence services came up with this version.
On March 22, Seymour Hersh wrote another article in which, citing a source allegedly “with access to diplomatic information”, he claimed that the CIA and German intelligence services had been instructed to come up with an alternative version of the causes of the explosions on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream pipelines. – 2″ to conceal the fact that US President Joe Biden ordered the attack. The relevant instructions were reportedly received by the two countries’ special services following German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Washington in early March.
According to the journalist, after Scholz’s meeting with Biden, German and American intelligence services provided New York Times and Die Zeit reporters with “false captions” to refute reports of Washington’s responsibility for the explosion of the attacks. gas pipelines.
