Moscow Will Return to Investigating Nord Stream Sabotage After UN Halt

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - The issue of an investigation of the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipeline is not closed, and Russia will return to it, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitriy Polyansky said Thursday.

"The matter of the investigation is not closed for us, and we will return to it in a suitable form and at a convenient time if the situation does not change," Polyansky said on Telegram.

He added that the topic "predictably remains uncomfortable for Westerners," and they are clearly nervous about answering Russia's questions.

Western representatives at the UN Security Council are urging Denmark, Germany and Sweden not to rush their national investigations, the officials added.

"However, not all members of the Security Council think so - many of them are puzzled by the fact that the Germans and Scandinavians are not hurrying up and have not yet shared information with the Security Council about the progress of their investigations. It could even be a matter of disrespect to the Security Council, which has quite clearly asked all three countries to speed up," Polyansky said.

"Apparently, understanding of our position is growing, which already obscenely isolates Westerners in the eyes of most UN members."

Polyanskiy also noted the sabotage could only have been carried out with direct state support, adding that versions in media reports about "self-organized Ukrainians allegedly not even directly related to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky's regime" were absurd.

The US and their allies have yet to provide convincing evidence and facts of their non-involvement in the sabotage, he said.

The latest remarks come as media reports detailed that several European intelligence agencies had been aware of Ukraine's intent on destroying the Nord Stream pipelines, and that the US was made equally aware of the development despite its later claims that Russia was to blame for the incident.

Russia has repeatedly rejected it played any role in the Nord Stream destruction, going on to condemn the sabotage as an "act of international terrorism." Russia earlier proposed a resolution at the UN Security Council to launch an independent investigation; however, the measure was rejected by the body.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh earlier revealed in February that US Navy divers had planted remote-controlled explosives under the disguise of the then NATO Baltops exercises.

Hersh later reported that US President Joe Biden had ordered the Nord Stream destruction after Germany's potential hesitation to supply the Kiev regime with additional weapons.