By Caleb Davis
March 14 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Tuesday that last year’s explosions at Nord Stream gas pipelines were perpetrated at “state level”, dismissing the idea that an autonomous pro- Ukrainian was responsible for it as “absolute nonsense”. “.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea, suffered a series of unexplained explosions in September, in what Moscow called an act of “international terrorism”.
Denmark, Germany and Sweden conducted their own investigations into the explosions, but Moscow says it has not been kept informed of the investigation.
“We asked the Danish authorities (…) about a request for collaboration or formation of an international group of experts, specialists,” Putin said in an interview with the public television channel Rossiya-1.
“The response, as I said, was vague. Just no response. They said we had to wait.”
Swedish and European investigators say the attacks were carried out on purpose, but did not say who they believe was responsible. Moscow, without providing evidence, attributed the explosions to Western sabotage.
Commenting on a report suggesting a pro-Ukrainian group attacked the pipelines, Putin said it was “complete nonsense”.
“You always have to look for those who are interested. And who is interested? Theoretically, of course, the United States is interested,” Putin said. “An explosion of this type, of this power, at this depth can only be carried out by specialists, and supported by all the power of the state, which has certain technologies.”
The United States strongly denies any involvement in the Nord Stream explosions.
Separately, Putin said a boat chartered by Russian energy company Gazprom found an antenna-like object about 30 kilometers from the blast sites.
“Experts believe it could be an antenna to receive a signal to detonate an explosive device,” Putin said. (Reporting by Caleb Davis, Michelle Nichols, Nikolaj Skydsgaard and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing in Spanish by Aida Peláez-Fernández)