NATO calls Nord Stream leaks "sabotage", threatens decisive response

WORLD  30 September 2022 - 12:37

NATO has said that a series of leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Europe were the result of sabotage and that attacks on its members’ infrastructure would be met with a collective response from the military alliance.

The statement, from the North Atlantic Council, the decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, didn’t provide details or evidence. “All currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage,” it said in a statement.

It also noted that the damage to the pipelines occurred in international waters. But it marks the first time the alliance has formally warned that it would deter and defend against attacks on its members’ critical infrastructure following the now four documented leaks in the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, according to The Wall Street Journal.

At a NATO meeting on September 28, Danish officials said the pipelines were damaged by several explosions Monday with the force of 500 kilograms of TNT (about 1,100 pounds), officials familiar with the discussions said.

Swedish and Danish authorities said on September 29 that a total of four leaks—two in the waters of each country—had been verified. The Swedish Coast Guard said the fourth leak—the second in Swedish waters-—was discovered earlier this week around the same time as the first. The second leak is smaller, and emissions from that leak are weakening, according to the agency’s ongoing surveillance of the site.

The Nord Stream pipelines are vast, laid mostly along the seabed, each more than 750 miles long. The explosions were large enough to be detected by seismographs in Sweden.

The leaks raised nerves among traders about the prospect for further supply disruptions. Russia had already throttled gas exports to Europe in recent months in what European officials have called an economic attack.

Caliber.Az