Russia won’t recognize Nord Stream leaks probe if domestic experts excluded: Foreign ministry

Moscow, Russia | Xinhua | Without the participation of Russian experts, Moscow won’t recognize any results of investigations into leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

In a statement, the ministry said it had summoned envoys from Germany, Denmark and Sweden in recent days to express “bewilderment” over Russia’s exclusion from a joint probe into the sabotage.

If Russian experts are not allowed to take part in the investigation, “Moscow will proceed from the fact that the mentioned countries have something to hide or are covering up for the perpetrators of these terrorist acts,” the ministry said.

“Russia, of course, will not recognize any ‘pseudo-results’ of such an investigation unless Russian experts are involved,” it added.

On Sept. 26, a series of explosions and subsequent gas leaks occurred on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines, causing what might be the largest single release of methane in history.

Both pipelines were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea.