Moscow will not let probes into last year’s explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines “off the hook,” the Russian foreign minister said on Thursday as he slammed the West.
Addressing a press conference with his Nicaraguan counterpart Denis Moncada in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov also said Russia is aware of “the West’s ability to lie” and “chronic inability to negotiate.”
Lavrov said Western countries in the United Nations (UN) Security Council acted in a certain way and an “impartial” investigation into Nord Stream was not approved.
“Indeed, it was an interesting, instructive and informative spectacle of how Western countries got out, dodged at a meeting of the (UN) Security Council just to not approve the instruction to the secretary-general to organize an impartial, objective, transparent investigation into the obvious terrorist attacks that were carried out against the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Everyone understands that these were terrorist attacks,” he said.
German, Swedish and Danish authorities are investigating the undersea explosions that sparked leaks on the two Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea last September.
Russia called for an international UN-led inquiry into the sabotage and to identify who was to blame, but the request was not supported by the Security Council.
Only Russia, China, and Brazil voted in favor of the draft resolution while the remaining 12 council members abstained.
At least nine votes in favor are needed to pass a draft resolution in the 15-member body.
On talks with Moncada, Lavrov said Russia and Nicarague reaffirmed their intention to deepen economic cooperation and build up trade relations.
CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE
