The fourth leak this week has been found, this time in Sweden, in a significant undersea pipeline supplying Russian natural gas to the EU.
This week, gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were discovered in Sweden and Denmark, raising the likelihood of an intentional attack.
While blaming sabotage, the EU avoided specifically blaming Russia.
Suggestions that Russia had attacked its own pipelines were brushed aside as “expected and dumb.”
Instead, the explosions took place in “zones controlled by American intelligence,” according to the foreign minister of the Kremlin.
The fourth breach on Nord Stream 2 was discovered, according to the Swedish coast guard, quite close to a larger leak discovered earlier on Nord Stream 1.
In retribution for the West’s support for Ukraine, the EU has accused Russia of using gas supplies as a weapon against it on numerous occasions.
Without going into any detail, Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, stated that it is “quite evident” who is responsible for the damage.
How Russia is denying Europe gas:
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, expressed his “great concern” about the leaks and said it was impossible to rule out the prospect of a planned attack.
The energy infrastructure of the continent would be subject to the “strongest possible response,” according to EU leaders.
While this was going on, Norway, a non-EU country, declared it would send troops to guard oil and gas facilities.
Despite the fact that they both contain gas, Nord Stream 1 and 2 are not currently delivering any gas.
Since Russia shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in late August, claiming that it required repair, no gas has been carried via the two parallel sections of the network.
From the Russian coast at St. Petersburg to northeastern Germany, it extends 1,200 km (745 miles) beneath the Baltic Sea. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, construction on its twin pipeline, Nord Stream 2, was halted.
Before the leaks appeared, underwater bursts were noted by seismologists. The Baltic Sea is covered in bubbles, the largest of which is one kilometre in diameter, according to video of the leaks given by Denmark’s Defense Command.
There was “no doubt” that these were explosions, according to Bjorn Lund of Sweden’s National Seismology Center.
A Russian attack, though, wouldn’t make sense, according to Andrei Kortunov of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank with offices in Moscow.
He said “They usually put the blame at Russia, but I think given it’s Russian property it would not be very reasonable for Russia to inflict damage upon it.”
“There are other methods to make life more difficult for Europeans. Without causing any harm to the infrastructure, they can simply halt the gas supply.”
