As reported by RIA Novosti, on the evening of March 27, the UN Security Council did not support the draft resolution establishing an international commission to investigate Russia’s terrorist attack in Nord Streams.
The adoption of the draft resolution required the support of 9 out of 15 votes. Only three countries – Russia, China and Brazil – voted “for”. The remaining members of the UN Security Council abstained.
Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, stressed that after the last vote, its results only raise doubts about who is behind the explosions in the gas pipelines.
“The United States and its allies have done everything to avoid launching an international investigation in front of the entire world. First, they publicly threatened to blow up this gas pipeline at the highest level in Washington. Then they mocked and expressed their joy at the fact that he was blown up, ”Nebenzya added.
The permanent envoy predicted that without Russian involvement, national investigations into the explosions in Denmark, Sweden and Germany would drag on for years. And in response to US criticism of the draft resolution, he recalled the Russian proverb “The thief and the lid are on fire”. According to Nebenzi, the more information emerged about Washington’s possible involvement in undermining gas pipelines, the more the West blocked an independent investigation.
“You don’t need to be a detective or an analyst to understand that the United States and its allies are trying to cover their tracks. Including coming up with various fabricated and fictitious versions and refusing to answer the facts that have emerged and are inappropriate for Washington,” the diplomat explained.
China’s UN representative agreed with the allegations of his Russian colleague. According to him, if some countries block the permission of the International Council of Inquiry, this raises suspicions that they are hiding something. At the same time, Beijing expects the investigation to be still organized and the results to be presented as soon as possible.
In a document drawn up by Russia and several other countries, UN Secretary-General António Guterres was instructed to create an international independent commission to investigate the sabotage and identify its perpetrators, accomplices and organizers.
The draft resolution also stated that Denmark, Sweden and Germany should share all information regarding the progress of the investigation with the UN commission and allow relevant parties, including Russia.
Dmitry Polyansky, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, said that Russia has been conscientiously conducting expert work on the text for a month and has removed all controversial points for “constructive-minded partners”. Now there is only one “argument” left by the Western countries that did not ostentatiously participate in this study – that an international investigation is not necessary, as they relied on the investigations of Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
The terrorist attack on Nord Streams took place on September 26 last year. Three of the four lines of the two pipelines were damaged by explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.
In 2021, US President Joe Biden and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland made it clear that the pipeline could be destroyed. Washington viewed Nord Stream as a threat to Europe’s energy independence. In Russia, it was pointed out that the USA entered into unfair competition by preventing the construction of gas pipelines in order to sell its liquefied gas to the EU at a higher price.
In February, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, citing sources, said that the US intelligence services were behind the blowing up of the gas pipelines, it was planned since 2021 and the order came from Biden himself. Hersh said the bombs were placed in the pipes as part of NATO’s Baltops exercises in the summer of 2022. The explosion was carried out remotely using a sea buoy dropped above the scene of the attack by a Norwegian reconnaissance aircraft.
President Vladimir Putin stated that he fully agreed with the American journalist’s conclusions.
Law enforcement agencies of Denmark, Sweden and Germany are investigating the case. At the same time, Copenhagen formally denied Moscow access to the investigation.
In March, another version of the Nord Stream explosions circulated widely in the Western media. It was said that a certain pro-Ukrainian group was behind the attacks, which had nothing to do with the US special services or official Kiev. In Russia, this theory was called ridiculous, and it was emphasized that the mass nature of such publications indicates their special nature. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs thought that the real organizers of the terrorist attack on the gas pipelines were trying to dispel suspicions from themselves by such information stuffing.