Russia Vows Not to Let Nord Stream Investigations ‘Off the Hook’

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will do everything to not allow investigators of blasts at the Nord Stream pipelines to get "off the hook" easily, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"Our next steps will be to keep these national investigations and those who have sworn that this will be enough to establish the truth from getting off the hook … the topic is far from closed," Lavrov told reporters.

Russia had no illusions regarding transparency of the investigation conducted by Western countries into the blasts on the Nord Stream pipelines, the Russian minister also stated.

"Nevertheless, for all this skepticism about how the Western investigation [into Nord Stream blasts] will end, we will not let them get away with it. They have all refused to support an international investigation, citing the impeccability of investigations in their own narrow circle. I don't think they can get away with it," Lavrov said.

Russian officials have been demanding that countries probing the blasts should let Moscow join the investigation, stressing that only a truly international investigation that would include Russian specialists can provide credible data on the issue.

Despite Russia's calls, the UN Security Council on Monday rejected a Russia-drafted resolution asking for a UN-led investigation into the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. China, Russia and Brazil voted in favor of the resolution, while all the other members abstained.

Earlier in the month, Danish media reported that Copenhagen would not allow Moscow to take part in the investigation of the sabotage at Nord Stream.

The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were hit by explosions last September. Nord Stream's operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the time repairs might take.

Russia considers the explosions of the two pipelines an act of international terrorism. There are no official results of the investigation yet. US journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh alleged that the explosions were organized by the United States with the support of Norway. Following Hersh's report, Moscow reiterated its calls for an impartial and thorough investigation. The US has denied its involvement in the incident.

In March, The New York Times reported that intelligence suggested the involvement of a "pro-Ukrainian group" in the Nord Stream incidents. US officials said there was no proof the Ukrainian leadership was involved in the operation. German newspaper Zeit reported later, 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. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, called the version of the involvement of Ukrainian activists in the explosion "a complete nonsense."