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UN calls for authoritative investigation into the Nord Stream pipeline incident
CGTN
A gas leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea, September 28, 2022. /CFP
A gas leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea, September 28, 2022. /CFP

A gas leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea, September 28, 2022. /CFP

Deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General said that the organization has no information that a pro-Ukrainian group could be behind the sabotage attacks on the Nord Stream undersea natural gas pipelines while urging that the incident should be investigated by different competent authorities.

"We don't have any first-hand information about these latest allegations. So we have no way to evaluate them, but obviously it's a concern, if anyone tries to blow up critical infrastructure.  And so yes, it's up to the relevant authorities to investigate," said Farhan Haq at a daily press briefing on Wednesday.

A report in the New York Times on Tuesday said U.S. officials had seen new intelligence indicating that a "pro-Ukrainian group" was responsible for the sabotage.

U.S. officials are investigating the possibility that a pro-Ukrainian group was responsible for the incident, Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior U.S. official.

The NYT report said U.S. officials had no evidence implicating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the pipeline bombing, and it did not identify the source of the intelligence or the group involved.

Germany, which along with Sweden and Denmark are carrying out investigations into the blasts, urged caution.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said he would not comment on the report, while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned against speculating.

The Ukrainian government denied involvement in the action, while the Kremlin rejected the Times report as a "diversion".

Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of Russia's upper parliament house, the Federation Council, said that an independent international investigation is required here and real evidence is needed.

Noting the NYT report, Kosachev said such words by Western countries aim to evade their responsibilities, avoid squabbling among Western allies and cover up the real perpetrators of the sabotage.

Kosachev added that whoever sabotages those pipelines will never get away with it.

Echoing Kosachev, Danish military analyst Anders Puck Nielsen told Danish news agency Ritzau that the latest theory is a timely and "reasonable solution" for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"If you look at it politically, it suits the USA, NATO and Ukraine very well if you can point to a non-state actor as some kind of terrorist organization or saboteurs. It takes the focus away from themselves and Russia," Nielsen told Ritzau.

(With input from agencies)

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