European ministers warn against 'jumping to conclusions' over Nord Stream pipeline attack report
Ukraine, Russian governments each deny having a role in the September sabotage
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius were among the officials warning against jumping to conclusions after a media report said intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials indicated that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind last year's attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines.
The pipeline blasts became another flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The New York Times report, while not pointing to any official Ukrainian involvement, comes at a time when Kyiv is urging its Western allies to ramp up supplies of high-end weapons to drive back Russian forces as the war enters its second year.
"I am not afraid of the truth. Any truth. But we are talking about … speculations," Borrell told reporters on Wednesday after a meeting of EU defence ministers in Stockholm.
"As long as investigations are ongoing, we cannot draw definitive conclusions. I have to wait for … a clear understanding for what has [been] happening," Borrell said.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, supplying Russian energy to Europe, were discovered ruptured on Sept. 26, 2022, spewing bubbles of natural gas into the Baltic Sea. Western countries believe the explosions were deliberate but have not concluded who was behind them.
"What we do know is that there was an attack against the [Nord Stream] pipelines, an act of sabotage. But we have not been able to determine who was behind [it]," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said from the same summit in Stockholm.
"There are ongoing national investigations and I think it's right to wait until those are finalized before we say anything more about who was behind," said Stoltenberg.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the media reports were a "little bit strange" and had "nothing to do" with the Ukrainian government.
"It's like a compliment for our special forces," he joked. "But this is not our activity."
Reznikov said he was not worried about the prospect of the media reports weakening support for Ukraine. Pistorius batted away a similar question about Western support as "hypothetical."
Russia reiterates call for UN-directed probe
Russia, which has previously blamed the West for the Nord Stream damage, seized on the news on Wednesday to demand a transparent investigation in which it also wants to participate.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov suggested the media reports were a co-ordinated bid to divert attention and questioned how U.S. officials could assume anything about the attacks without an investigation.
"The very least that the Nord Stream shareholder countries and the United Nations must demand is an urgent, transparent investigation with the participation of everyone who can shed light," Peskov said.
Russia last month gave the UN Security Council a draft resolution which — if adopted — would ask Secretary General Antonio Guterres to establish an international, independent investigation into the attack.
The New York Times said there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or other Ukrainian government officials had played any role in the attacks.
German report provides details on crew, boat rental
The U.S. intelligence review suggested those who carried out the attacks opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin "but does not specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation," the New York Times wrote.
"Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two. U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved," according to the New York Times report.
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A separate report by Germany's ARD broadcaster and Zeit newspaper on Tuesday said German authorities were able to identify the boat used for the sabotage operation. It said a group of five men and one woman, using forged passports, rented a yacht from a Poland-based company owned by Ukrainian citizens, but the nationality of the perpetrators was unclear.
Germany's Pistorius said earlier the likelihood was "equally high" that it could have been a "false-flag operation staged to blame Ukraine."
"We have to make a clear distinction whether it was a Ukrainian group, whether it may have happened at Ukrainian orders, or a pro-Ukrainian group [acting] without knowledge of the government. But I am warning against jumping to conclusions," Pistorius said.
Pistorius said earlier the likelihood was "equally high" that it could have been a "false flag operation staged to blame Ukraine."
Citing Germany's federal prosecutor, the N-TV broadcaster said German investigators had raided a ship in January suspected of involvement, but there was no reliable information on perpetrators or motives.
Investigators found traces of explosives on the yacht, which the group took from Rostock, Germany, on Sept. 6, according to ARD and Zeit. They also reported that intelligence indicated that a pro-Ukrainian group could be behind the attack, but German authorities have not yet found any evidence.
Reuters could not independently verify the information.