03:55Algeria: Nord Stream blasts could 'damage the Democrats before the presidential election' - Russian Fed. Council
Chair of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matvienko claimed that media discussion of the Nord Stream pipeline explosions could damage the US Democrats ahead of next year’s presidential elections, while speaking during her official visit to Algeria on Thursday.
"They began to fuss in the United States of America, because well, the information is such, including that of an American journalist, that this information noise can very much damage the Democrats before the presidential election, in general, this is a very serious story," she said.
Matvienko added that Western countries "began total work to block any initiatives in this area and prevent an objective investigation."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed on Tuesday that any information about the investigations into the Nord Stream incident was being suppressed.
On the same day, President Vladimir Putin called the explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines a 'terrorist attack', which 'can only be carried out by state-backed specialists'.
Earlier, on Monday, Zakharova said that Russia had noted reports on the detection of an 'object' which may represent an explosive device element in the Danish exclusive economic zone, 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) away from the site where one of the pipelines exploded. According to her, Danish Ambassador Jakob Henningsen visited the Russian Foreign Ministry last week, and said that he was not familiar with the details.
On March 7, The New York Times quoted US administration insiders as saying that a 'pro-Ukrainian group' may have been behind the pipeline explosions, operating without the knowledge of Ukrainian authorities.
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on March 10 that Kiev had no connection to the Nord Stream blasts. He said the allegations against his country were beneficial to those wanting to slow down assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In February, an article by US journalist Seymour Hersh alleged that explosives were planted at the pipelines by US Navy divers on President Joe Biden’s orders. The White House called the claims 'utterly false and total fiction'.
In late September 2022, leaks were found in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. The operator said three of the four strings were damaged, while German security services suggested that the pipelines could not be repaired.
The EU, US, NATO and Moscow all claimed 'sabotage' to be the reason for the incident, although they had different versions of events.
Putin said that the West had 'effectively attempted to destroy the pan-European energy infrastructure', while Biden accused Moscow of 'pumping out disinformation and lies'.
Investigations into the incident are reportedly still underway with Swedish, German and Danish authorities participating. In October, Putin announced that Gazprom had also been allowed to survey the Nord Stream site.
03:55Chair of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matvienko claimed that media discussion of the Nord Stream pipeline explosions could damage the US Democrats ahead of next year’s presidential elections, while speaking during her official visit to Algeria on Thursday.
"They began to fuss in the United States of America, because well, the information is such, including that of an American journalist, that this information noise can very much damage the Democrats before the presidential election, in general, this is a very serious story," she said.
Matvienko added that Western countries "began total work to block any initiatives in this area and prevent an objective investigation."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed on Tuesday that any information about the investigations into the Nord Stream incident was being suppressed.
On the same day, President Vladimir Putin called the explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines a 'terrorist attack', which 'can only be carried out by state-backed specialists'.
Earlier, on Monday, Zakharova said that Russia had noted reports on the detection of an 'object' which may represent an explosive device element in the Danish exclusive economic zone, 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) away from the site where one of the pipelines exploded. According to her, Danish Ambassador Jakob Henningsen visited the Russian Foreign Ministry last week, and said that he was not familiar with the details.
On March 7, The New York Times quoted US administration insiders as saying that a 'pro-Ukrainian group' may have been behind the pipeline explosions, operating without the knowledge of Ukrainian authorities.
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on March 10 that Kiev had no connection to the Nord Stream blasts. He said the allegations against his country were beneficial to those wanting to slow down assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In February, an article by US journalist Seymour Hersh alleged that explosives were planted at the pipelines by US Navy divers on President Joe Biden’s orders. The White House called the claims 'utterly false and total fiction'.
In late September 2022, leaks were found in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. The operator said three of the four strings were damaged, while German security services suggested that the pipelines could not be repaired.
The EU, US, NATO and Moscow all claimed 'sabotage' to be the reason for the incident, although they had different versions of events.
Putin said that the West had 'effectively attempted to destroy the pan-European energy infrastructure', while Biden accused Moscow of 'pumping out disinformation and lies'.
Investigations into the incident are reportedly still underway with Swedish, German and Danish authorities participating. In October, Putin announced that Gazprom had also been allowed to survey the Nord Stream site.