The United Nations Security Council rejected Monday a draft resolution submitted by Russia calling for the formation of an independent international commission of inquiry into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines last September.
The text supported by China and non-members of the Council (Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Syria) won three votes (Russia, China and Brazil), while the remaining 12 members abstained from voting.
In order for the text to be adopted, at least nine members must vote in favor of it, and no permanent member of the Council must veto it.
The text calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to form the committee with the aim of conducting a comprehensive, transparent and impartial international investigation into all aspects of the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, including identifying the perpetrators, planners, organizers and accomplices.
Russia justified its request by emphasizing that it had been excluded from the investigations conducted by Sweden, Germany and Denmark, noting that Stockholm, Berlin and Copenhagen rejected the Russian accusation.
On Monday, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, said, “We’ve great and well-founded doubts about the objectivity and transparency of national investigations conducted by certain European countries, also referring to doubts about the measures that were implemented under the cover of investigations to obliterate evidence and clean up crime scenes”.
He continued, “I think that after today’s vote, suspicions have become clear about who is behind the sabotage of Nord Stream”.
Several members of the Council refused to propose the formation of an international commission, affirming their confidence in the three countries conducting the investigations, and denouncing Russia’s attempt to divert attention from the invasion of Ukraine.
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said that the decision was an attempt to undermine the credibility of the national investigations, and harm their future results if they don’t come in line with the predetermined Russian political narrative, rejecting strongly baseless Russian accusations against the United States.
An earlier version of the text indicated that the sabotage occurred after repeated threats against Nord Stream launched by the United States, knowing that the text that was voted on Monday didn’t include this reference.
About six months after the explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, it’s not yet clear who was responsible for the underwater attack.
In a recent article, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh noted that US Navy divers, with the help of Norway, planted explosives in June that were detonated three months later.
Washington considered this information totally wrong.
For its part, the New York Times reported the involvement of a pro-Ukrainian group opposed to Russia, based on information from US intelligence.
However, Kiev denied the accusations, which Moscow described as a coordinated media stunt.
