Russia Will Not Allow Nord Stream Probe to Be Swept Under the Rug, Lavrov Tells Sputnik

The foreign minister earlier expressed Russia's "shock" over the lack of punishment for those who instigated the Nord Stream attack, and reiterated Moscow's insistence on a "fair and swift investigation." Last month, investigative journalist Sy Hersh offered damning evidence on suspected US and Norwegian involvement in the September 2022 sabotage.

Russia will not allow an investigation into the terror attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines to be swept under the rug, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told Sputnik.

"You remember how the West reacted to the investigation into Nord Stream published by Seymour Hersh - their nervous reaction. They started saying it's nonsense and that they were not even going to discuss it. I think this makes everything clear. But we will do our best to make this investigation happen, we will not allow them to just sweep it all under the rug," Lavrov said, responding to a question by Sputnik's Denis Bolotsky at a press conference following the meeting of the G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi, India on Thursday.

Lavrov compared the lack of cooperation from the US and its allies on the Nord Stream attacks with Western allegations about the 'poisoning' of Russian opposition vlogger Alexei Navalny, saying Germany "is still refusing to send us the results of the medical tests." Britain "took the same stance regarding the incident in Salisbury when they did not even send us the medical documentation and other information that we requested officially in accordance with requirements of international conventions."

"The West does not want to react to the matters that show the provocative nature of their actions," the Russian diplomat said.

Lavrov recalled how even in relation to the suspected false flag incident in Bucha, were Russian forces were accused of war crimes against Ukrainian civilians just days after Moscow and Kiev reached the outlines of a draft peace agreement, Russia "received no response" to its "numerous requests for information about this incident," including the lists of those who were killed.

Lavrov indicated that China had joined with Russia in pushing for the inclusion of the Nord Stream issue into the G20 communique, and said that "the majority of developing nations in the G20 expressed understanding" for the Russian initiative.

Unfortunately, Lavrov said, the G20's Western members rejected the idea of adding a point about the need for an honest investigation into the act of sabotage into the declaration.

"Our call for the necessary to conduct an impartial, honest investigation was flatly rejected by our Western partners. Therefore, due to their position, the declaration was blocked and the results of the discussion will be presented in a summary delivered by the the Indian chairmanship, which I hope will objectively reflect the exchange of views that took place," the Russian top diplomat said.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas infrastructure was built by Russian and European energy companies to deliver up to 110 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from Russia to Europe via pipelines along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Sections of pipelines off the island off the Danish Island of Bornholm were struck in a coordinated terror attack on September 26, 2022. A month after the incident, Russian officials accused the "Anglo-Saxons" of responsibility, with the Russian military suspecting Britain's Royal Navy. Last month, Seymour Hersh wrote about the operation in great detail in a bombshell Substack article, fingering the US and Norwegian militaries for the clandestine operation. Sputnik subsequently received information from a source identifying themselves as a service member that took part in the NATO drills which served as cover for the sabotage operation, corroborating Hersh's reporting and providing new details. Western officials dismissed Hersh's reporting, while much of the media simply pretended that the story didn't exist, or attempted to smear the investigative journalist, who has a perfect track record of reliability and accuracy in his 60+ year journalistic career.