Germany May Initiate Own Probe Into Nord Stream Incident, Justice Minister Says

BERLIN (Sputnik) - The German government may initiate its own probe into the Nord Stream incident if the explosions on the offshore pipelines are proven to be sabotage, German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said on Sunday.

"In this case, it is possible that a crime was committed, for which the federal prosecutor could start criminal proceedings," Buschmann told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The justice minister said that the investigation would have revealed those responsible by employing "all means provided by Germany's constitution," as quoted in the report.

This past Monday, simultaneous attacks on both Nord Stream pipelines transiting gas from Russia to Europe caused a fall in pressure and leakage of fuel into the Baltic Sea. The Swedish and Danish authorities said they had discovered two gas leaks, with the consensus being that the incident was a result of sabotage.

Earlier on Sunday, the Danish Energy Agency said, citing the pipeline's operator, Nord Stream AG, that the gas leak on the damaged Nord Stream 1 pipeline stopped. On Saturday, the Danish Energy Agency made a similar statement on Nord Stream 2, announcing that gas outflow from breaches on the pipeline had also stopped and pressure evened out.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday that it was investigating the pipeline explosions as acts of international terrorism. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said earlier on Sunday that the US, Poland and Ukraine could have been the direct beneficiaries of the Nord Stream accidents.