Russia Insists on Investigation of Nord Stream Attack at UN Security Council Meeting

June 15, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—At a press conference today at the United Nations, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy, reported on the closed-door session of the UN Security Council called by Russia, during which he had charged that the investigations into the Nord Stream sabotage that Sweden, Germany, and Denmark are supposed to be carrying out were not only “not moving forward” but were “going around in circles.” In the discussion, he said, he made clear that it is “totally false” that Russia had been kept informed of the status of these so-called investigations, such that there were even certain “awkward acknowledgments” by the Swedish Prosecutor General that Russia had not been provided any details whatsoever on the investigation.

“That’s why we said in the UNSC and stressed that the situation is absolutely intolerable for my country ... we will do our best to pursue this cause and will seek an international investigation and punishment of those behind this crime,” the Russian diplomat declared. “It is inadmissible that the perpetrators of such a heinous crime that so directly affects international peace and security are not yet identified or prosecuted.” Polyanskiy emphasized that there was unanimity among the 15 UNSC members that the investigation should be accelerated and that reports should be submitted. It is clear, he said, that a state actor was behind the attack.

In response to a reporter’s question, Polyanskiy stressed that there are many countries that support Russia’s call for an international investigation, because “they understand what’s going on.” He also dismissed another reporter’s suggestion that the Nord Stream sabotage be investigated together with the blowing up of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and dam. The two cases are entirely different, he said.

“I would say that as for the Nord Stream, it is absolutely clear that this is an act of international sabotage that happened in international waters. There are a lot of factors on the surface that international experts should analyze to come to an obvious conclusion. Obvious to us, but maybe not too obvious to some others,”

he emphasized. By contrast, in planning to blow up KHPP, he said, the Ukrainians made the error of weakening the dam by raising the water in the river above it. It was the work of Ukraine, and “This was clearly proven and is very difficult to refute,” he asserted.