A pipeline in the Baltic Sea was apparently damaged by external influences. Possible Russian involvement is causing concern in NATO. But Moscow rejects the speculation.
Moscow rejects suspicions of being involved in damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia. “Russia has nothing to do with this incident,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, according to the Interfax agency.
At the same time, he spoke out against statements made by Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics. He had called for the Baltic Sea to be closed to Russian ships if Moscow was proven to have damaged the gas pipeline. Such threats, regardless of who they came from, are unacceptable for Russia, Peskov said in Moscow.
Finland and Estonia are holding back from speculation
Finland and Estonia are investigating together, but are holding back from speculating about what happened. However, the incident and suspicions of possible Moscow involvement sparked concern in NATO. Finnish investigators announced last Friday that the Chinese container ship “Newnew Polar Bear” flying the Hong Kong flag was in the region at the time of the damage. Here you can read more about it.
Around a year earlier, in September 2022, three of four strands of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 Baltic Sea pipelines were damaged by explosions. Here too, the authorship is still unclear.
