Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions were carried out on a “state level,” dismissing recent reports that a pro-Ukrainian group had carried out the blasts.
Putin described the reports by the New York Times and multiple German news outlets as “complete nonsense,” saying again that the U.S. could be behind the attack.
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“One should always look for those who are interested. And who is interested? Theoretically, of course, the United States is interested,” Putin said in an interview with state television.
“An explosion of this kind, of this power, at this depth can only be carried out by specialists, and supported by the full power of the state, which has certain technologies,” he added.
The White House has dismissed any suggestion of blame as “utterly false and complete fiction.”
Putin’s remarks come after the New York Times reported earlier this month that a group of six individuals, likely of Ukrainian or Russian origin, had carried out the attacks. That report cited Western intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials and was later bolstered by German broadcast outlets and the German newspaper Die Zeit.
That intelligence suggested that the group opposed Putin, but it did not specify members of the group or say who had directed or paid for the operation. The New York Times suggested that the explosives had likely been placed by “experienced divers who did not appear to be working for military or intelligence services.”
Putin also alleged Tuesday that a ship rented by state-owned energy giant Gazprom had found an antenna-like object on the seabed some 19 miles from the explosion sites, which he suggested could have been placed on the seabed to detonate an explosive device.
Denmark had also been investigating an unknown “object” located near one of the pipelines, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters, but concluded that the object did “not pose any immediate security threat and that there is no immediate threat to marine traffic or people in the area.”
Swedish, Danish, and German authorities have each been separately investigating the Nord Stream explosions, which were carried out in Sweden and Denmark’s exclusive economic zones. All investigations remain ongoing.
Russia complained to the U.N. earlier this month that none of the countries investigating the blasts have kept Moscow informed on the status of their efforts.
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Kremlin officials have also suggested that “Anglo-Saxons” carried out the attacks. Russia’s national security chief suggested the U.S. or U.K. could be behind the attacks just days earlier.
The twin Nord Stream gas pipelines were hit by four undersea blasts in September. Western officials said the explosions were “deliberate” and caused extensive damage to the pipelines, including Nord Stream 1, the key natural gas artery linking Russia to the European Union until last summer, when Moscow began throttling its supplies to the bloc.
