Nord Stream 'sabotage' likely state-sponsored, says Russia

Agencies | Moscow/ Brussels             

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Russia said yesterday leaks spewing gas into the sea from pipelines to Germany appeared to be the result of state-sponsored "terrorism", as an EU official said the incident had fundamentally changed the nature of the conflict in Ukraine.

The European Union is investigating the cause of the leaks in the Gazprom-led (GAZP.MM) Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines under the Baltic Sea and has said it suspects sabotage.

It remains unclear who might be behind any deliberate attack on the pipelines that Russia and European partners spent billions of dollars building.

"This looks like an act of terrorism, possibly on a state level," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "It is very difficult to imagine that such an act of a terrorism could have happen without the involvement of a state of some kind," Peskov said.

"This is a very dangerous situation which requires an urgent investigation." US news channel CNN, citing three sources, reported that European security officials had observed Russian navy support ships and submarines not far from the sites of the leaks.

Asked to comment on the CNN report, Peskov said there had been a much larger NATO presence in the area. Russia has also said the leaks off the coasts of Denmark and Sweden occurred in territory that is "fully under the control" of U.S. intelligence agencies.