The UN Security Council on Monday rejected a Russia-backed resolution calling for an international independent investigation into the blasts that severely damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines last autumn. Russian diplomats suggested that the outcome of the vote was the result of diplomatic pressure exerted by the West on other countries.
The draft resolution, which sought to establish an international independent commission to look into “all aspects of the act of sabotage” of the pipelines that directly linked Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea, as well as identify the attack’s sponsors and organizers, was supported by three countries (Russia, China, and Brazil). No country voted against the document, with 12 abstentions, resulting in the resolution being rejected.
Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s Permanent Representative to the UN, remarked that after the vote “the suspicion [about] who stands behind the sabotage at the Nord Stream will but increase.”
Last month, renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh released a bombshell report accusing the US of having orchestrated the attack on the pipelines. While Washington has denied responsibility, last week Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he “fully agrees” with the reporter’s conclusions.