An American journalist, Seymour Hersh, published a piece examining the explosions of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. He contends that the United States acted from a position of distrust toward Germany, arguing that Washington feared Germany could break with sanctions on Russia. In an interview with a major German newspaper, Hersh suggests that U.S. leaders believed Berlin might depart from the sanctions regime if winter pressures intensified and Western unity frayed.
Hersh describes a web of stakeholders within intelligence and security circles who opposed the plan, calling the move risky and even insane from their perspective. He asserts that President Joe Biden would rather see Germany endure hardship than risk losing support for Ukraine, a caution that purportedly shaped the strategic choices of those who organized the operation.
The journalist recalls Biden’s statements at a White House press event after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in early February 2022, where the president signaled a readiness to intervene in the pipeline. According to Hersh, those remarks did not reflect the private stance Biden took in his meeting with Scholz, leaving a gap between public messaging and private deliberations.
“At the last moment, the White House was agitated”
In his interview, Hersh recounts that the sabotage as a plan was meant to take place in June 2022. Near the deadline, officials reportedly grew uneasy. The president reportedly expressed fear about the consequences and altered course, finally granting authority to detonate remotely when needed. This shift helped push the operation to September, according to the journalist.
Hersh claims that only six of the eight devices detonated, suggesting that the underwater environment affected the effectiveness of the charges and the timing of the blast. He also discusses Norway’s involvement, indicating Oslo wished to increase gas deliveries to Europe and agreed to cooperate with the Americans. He adds that tensions toward Russia lingered in Norway, coloring its participation.
What is known about the investigation
Hersh, citing an unnamed source with direct knowledge of the planning, asserts that U.S. Navy divers placed charges in the Baltic Sea as part of NATO exercises in June 2022. He alleges that Norwegian technicians later controlled the devices remotely, about three months after the initial placements. According to the account, the Nord Stream explosions were conceived as a covert U.S. operation with a presidential-level decision made after extensive consultations within the administration. Some Western outlets challenged Hersh for relying on a single anonymous source, raising questions about corroboration.
The White House rejected the article as false and purely fictional, while the Pentagon and Germany denied any involvement. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later claimed that U.S. authorities did not only participate but discussed the matter openly with apparent satisfaction. The Nord Stream incidents, which occurred on the night of September 26, damaged three of the four pipelines, and the operator Nord Stream AG noted that predicting a repair timeline was not possible. Russia and EU members treated the explosions as sabotage and initiated independent inquiries. Swedish authorities announced that the investigation was completed, though no suspects were named.
In February, a draft resolution was presented to the State Duma urging an international inquiry through the United Nations. A representative for the UN secretary general replied that the United Nations did not possess the mandate to conduct such an investigation. The unfolding narrative has sparked ongoing debate over responsibility, evidence, and the interplay of political aims with energy security in Europe.