This handout picture released on Sept 27, 2022 by the Danish Defence Command shows the gas leak at the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as it is seen from the Danish Defence's F-16 rejection response off the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm, south of Dueodde. (HANDOUT / DANISH DEFENCE COMMAND/ AFP)
UNITED NATIONS – Russia wants the United Nations Security Council to ask for an independent inquiry into September attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, connecting Russia and Germany, that spewed gas into the Baltic Sea.
Russia gave the 15-member council a draft resolution on Friday, seen by Reuters, which would ask UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish an international investigation into the "sabotage" and identify who was to blame.
Sweden and Denmark, in whose exclusive economic zones the attacks on the NordStream pipelines occurred, have concluded the pipelines were blown up deliberately, but have not said who might be responsible
Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the aim was to put the text to a vote within a week. A council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, China or Russia to pass.
This means a vote could coincide with meetings of the UN General Assembly and Security Council to mark the first anniversary of Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine. The 193-member General Assembly is likely to vote on Thursday to again demand Moscow withdraw its troops and call for a halt to hostilities.
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Sweden and Denmark, in whose exclusive economic zones the attacks on the NordStream pipelines occurred, have concluded the pipelines were blown up deliberately, but have not said who might be responsible.
The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have called the incident "an act of sabotage." Moscow has blamed the West. Neither side has provided evidence.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1970, wrote last week – citing an unidentified source – that US Navy divers had destroyed the pipelines with explosives on the orders of President Joe Biden.
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The White House has dismissed the allegations as "utterly false and complete fiction."