Ukraine denies sabotaging Nord Stream as US media names it

Tuan Tran• March 9, 2023 06:23

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has denied that his country was involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline in September 2022.

“It was not our action,” The Guardian quoted the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry as saying when he was in Stockholm, Sweden, yesterday (March 8), when Mr. Reznikov was invited to attend a summit with his counterparts from European Union (EU) member states.

BUkrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. Photo: Reuters

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said everyone should be cautious about reports that pro-Ukrainian groups sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipeline. “It could be a false flag operation to blame pro-Ukrainian groups. The possibility of this is quite high,” Pistorius said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk.

According to The Guardian, the above statements by Ukrainian and German defense officials were made just one day after The New York Times cited new intelligence that US officials had just reviewed showing that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out an attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline connecting Russia to Europe in September 2022.

“The attack was likely carried out by a proxy force linked to the Ukrainian government or security forces. The bombs that damaged three of the four gas pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea were most likely planted by experienced divers. These divers do not appear to be affiliated with the military or intelligence services, but may have had formal training in the past,” one section of the intelligence said.

EU plans to provide additional 1 billion euros in ammunition aid to Kiev

According to The Guardian, the European Union (EU) Defense Ministers today discussed with their Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov a plan to provide 1 billion Euros worth of ammunition to Kiev, as well as propose joint orders to ensure the supply of weapons "continues to flow".

“Our top priority is air defense systems, as well as ammunition,” Mr. Reznikov said at the meeting.

Under the plan, drawn up by the EU’s foreign policy agency, member states will send their ammunition to Ukraine within weeks. With doubts over how much ammunition European countries can keep, defense ministers will need to provide details on the size of their stocks.

“I don’t know how much ammunition will be retained by EU members. That’s why we are sitting here,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.