Russia says it should be part of Nord Stream leaks probe

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said that Russia must be part of the probe investigating last week's explosions in the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea. 

"So far, from those news conferences which took place in Denmark and Sweden, we've heard disturbing statements that any cooperation with the Russian side is ruled out," Peskov told reporters in Moscow. 

The explosions took place in Danish and Swedish waters, both countries said they appeared to be "deliberate actions."  

"We, obviously, will be waiting for some clarification on that as we believe that, definitely, participation of the Russian side in examining the damaged area and investigating what happened should be mandatory," Peskov said. 

Trading blame, commercial investigators not yet allowed

European governments and NATO say the two Nord Stream pipelines were likely attacked in an act of Russian sabotage.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the US and its allies for the leaks. Russia has described as "stupid" reports saying it had a motive to sabotage the pipes itself. 

The commercial operators of the two pipelines, Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG based in Switzerland, said this week that they were currently unable to inspect the damaged sections because of restrictions imposed by Denmark and Sweden. 

Nord Stream 2 AG said that it would conduct its own investigation once police operations at the "crime scene" had been completed. Nord Stream AG said that the Danish government had told it that it could take over 20 working days to arrange the necessary permits to carry out an inspection.

Estonia recommends routine NATO submarine surveillance

German newspaper Die Zeit spoke at length about the issue of underwater pipelines and other infrastructure with Estonia's Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur about a proposal he had also made on social media for a NATO program of "Sub Policing" akin to its "Air Policing" operations. 

"We know fairly precisely what's going on in our airspace. Thanks to good radar systems, we, as an alliance, record every movement, even in cases when Russian jets fly with their transponders switched off," Pevkur said. "We also know fairly precisely what's going on on land, for that we have reconnaissance systems.

"But when it comes to the sea," Pevkur said, "we only know what's going on on the surface. Underneath that, things get difficult. Finland and Sweden have really good detection systems in this area. That's why we're seeking cooperation with both these countries." 

The issue is of particular relevance to Estonia as it receives electricity via undersea cables from Finland. Pevkur noted that attack or sabotage is no simple matter and required explosives, as the Nord Stream blasts had shown, but he nevertheless recommended some kind of underwater surveillance program.

Pevkur said despite Finland and Sweden's strong ties to NATO countries, there were currently limits to cooperation and that he believed such cooperation might only be possible once their bid to join NATO is completed. 

The Estonian defense minister was also asked his opinion on the arguments over who was behind the Nord Stream explosions. "The only country that had a motive for this sabotage is Russia," he said. 

Asked about one prominent politician to have offered a contrary opinion, former Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorsky, who responded to the news by thanking the US government on Twitter, Pevkur said, "Everyone has the right to their own interpretation, but I can't share this logic." 

In terms of speculation on possible motives, analysts have pointed to Russia and Gazprom in particular as needing a "force majeure" reason to explain a failure to fulfill gas delivery contracts, while speculating the West might want to send Russia a message that the gas pipelines' days were numbered.

The presence of a US helicopter near one of the explosion sites drew attention, while industry experts pointed out that Gazprom could have blown the pipes from within with comparative ease. 

One Russian energy expert, Mikhail Krutikhin, told DW last week that the first and most instructive task would be to ascertain whether the explosions originated inside or outside the pipes themselves. 

msh/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)