Lavrov Says UN Chief Avoiding Giving Any Reaction on Nord Stream Pipelines Blasts

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his staff have been avoiding responding to questions related to the journalist investigations into Nord Stream explosions and the West's stance concerning the issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"I am referring to the questions that journalists are asking the [UN] secretary general and his officials about how they feel about the need to investigate the information that has emerged on how the West describes the terrorist act that took place against the Nord Streams last September. And the secretary general and his staff have shied away from responding to these justified questions in every possible way," Lavrov said at a joint press conference after a meeting with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

The Russian foreign minister also said that there was complete "passivity and aloofness" related to the issues which require an active interest of the UN Secretariat, including demilitarization of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing US officials, that new intelligence suggested involvement of a "pro-Ukrainian group" in the Nord Stream incidents. At the same time, US officials reportedly said there was no proof of the Ukrainian leadership being involved in the operation.

Meanwhile, German newspaper reported, citing investigators, that the attacks had been carried out by six people of unknown nationality with the use of a boat rented from a firm based in Poland and owned by two Ukrainians.