Nord Stream leaks precede blasts; European leaders hint at sabotage, launch probe!

European leaders have opened a probe into the explosions that are believed to have caused significant leaks along the Nord Stream pipelines. Since the pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea carrying natural gas from Russia to Europe were severely affected, they assumed sabotage was to blame for the breaches.

While the Nord Stream 1 reported leaks, the pressure in the Nord Stream 2 suddenly dropped overnight. The seismograph recorded significant spikes twice on Tuesday, according to the German geological research institute GFZ, and the leaks occurred close to the Danish island of Bornholm. ‘On Nord Stream 1, there are two leaks: one in the Danish economic zone and one in the Swedish economic zone’. According to Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA), they are extremely close to one another.

The incident was quickly addressed by the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who called the Nord Stream leaks ‘planned acts’ and stated, ‘We are not talking about an accident’. Similar comments were also expressed by Ursula Von der Leyen, head of the European Commission. The toughest possible response will be taken in response to any intentional interruption of active European energy infrastructure, Von der Leyen said reporters.

Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister of Poland, said to The Guardian that the disclosures ‘probably indicate the next stage of aggravation of the situation in Ukraine’ and connected them to the continuing conflict there.  Russia has come under fire for attempting to weaponize the energy supply once more by disrupting it as the situation in Ukraine shows no signs of stopping.

As the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the incident was ‘extremely disturbing’ and that ‘no possibility can be ruled out right now,’ Russia did not respond to the allegations. ‘ These are worrying new. In fact, he stated in the formal briefing, We are talking about some damage of an uncertain origin to the pipeline in Denmark’s economic zone’. The 1,224-kilometer (760-mile) Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been shut down by Russia throughout the conflict, but the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which runs alongside, has never had any flow.