06:20Russia: Western countries at UNSC 'twisted and turned' so Nord Stream investigation was not approved - Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Western
countries at the UN Security Council have 'twisted and turned' to avoid the Nord Stream investigation being approved during a press conference with Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada in Moscow on Thursday.
"Western countries twisted and turned on the Security Council
meeting, only to disapprove of instructing the secretary general to organise an impartial, objective, transparent investigation into the apparent terrorist attacks that were carried out against the Nord Stream pipelines. Everyone understands that these were terrorist attacks, but everyone also understands that 'overly serious' Western representatives have their noses in the grill and are very reluctant for this investigation to be truly objective," Lavrov stated.
The diplomat added that Russia's further actions will be to keep national investigations initiated by Denmark, Sweden and Germany from 'shutting everything down'.
For his part, Moncada noted that in the context of the international agenda, the positions of Russia and Nicaragua are similar in many respects.
"We once again emphasise our solidarity with international organisations to protect the stability and security of our countries, our regions, as well as the entire world," the Nicaraguan foreign minister added.
Three members - Russia, China and Brazil - backed the resolution, while 12 others abstained. The wording called for a commission to 'conduct comprehensive, transparent and impartial international investigation of all aspects of the act of sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, including identification of its perpetrators, sponsors, organisers and accomplices'.
"At first, Washington publicly, at the highest level, threatened to blow up this gas pipeline," claimed Nebenzia. "Then they expressed joy at the fact that it was blown up. At the same time, a huge amount of speculation and, to put it mildly, contradictory and absurd versions about who could have done this are being dumped
in the media."
US Alternate (Deputy) Ambassador Robert Wood stated that his country 'categorically refutes Russia's unfounded allegations'.
"The United States was not involved in any way, period," he said. "Let us be clear on what Russia's draft resolution was and what it was not. It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that did not comport to Russia's predetermined and political narrative."
Investigations by Sweden, Germany and Denmark are reportedly still ongoing, with Wood saying that those inquiries should be allowed to proceed in a 'comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner'.
In February, an article by US journalist Seymour Hersh alleged that explosives were planted at the pipelines by US Navy divers on US President Joe Biden’s orders. The White House called it 'utterly false and total fiction'.
In March, the New York Times published a report claiming that US officials had intelligence suggesting a 'pro-Ukrainian group' was behind the Nord Stream pipeline blasts.
Kiev strongly denied any involvement in the explosions at the underwater sites, while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov claimed that 'clearly the authors of the attack want to divert attention' and called it an 'obvious misinformation campaign co-ordinated by the media'.
"The United States and its allies are trying to cover their tracks. Including, throwing in various kinds of fabrications and delusional versions and refusing to answer facts that are revealed and inconvenient for Washington," Nebenzia alleged at the UNSC meeting.
Back in September, the EU, US, NATO and Moscow all claimed 'sabotage' to be the reason for the incident. President Vladimir Putin said that the West had 'effectively attempted to destroy the pan-European energy infrastructure'.
Western countries avoided directly accusing Moscow although Biden accused Russia of 'pumping out disinformation and lies'.
06:20Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Western
countries at the UN Security Council have 'twisted and turned' to avoid the Nord Stream investigation being approved during a press conference with Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada in Moscow on Thursday.
"Western countries twisted and turned on the Security Council
meeting, only to disapprove of instructing the secretary general to organise an impartial, objective, transparent investigation into the apparent terrorist attacks that were carried out against the Nord Stream pipelines. Everyone understands that these were terrorist attacks, but everyone also understands that 'overly serious' Western representatives have their noses in the grill and are very reluctant for this investigation to be truly objective," Lavrov stated.
The diplomat added that Russia's further actions will be to keep national investigations initiated by Denmark, Sweden and Germany from 'shutting everything down'.
For his part, Moncada noted that in the context of the international agenda, the positions of Russia and Nicaragua are similar in many respects.
"We once again emphasise our solidarity with international organisations to protect the stability and security of our countries, our regions, as well as the entire world," the Nicaraguan foreign minister added.
Three members - Russia, China and Brazil - backed the resolution, while 12 others abstained. The wording called for a commission to 'conduct comprehensive, transparent and impartial international investigation of all aspects of the act of sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, including identification of its perpetrators, sponsors, organisers and accomplices'.
"At first, Washington publicly, at the highest level, threatened to blow up this gas pipeline," claimed Nebenzia. "Then they expressed joy at the fact that it was blown up. At the same time, a huge amount of speculation and, to put it mildly, contradictory and absurd versions about who could have done this are being dumped
in the media."
US Alternate (Deputy) Ambassador Robert Wood stated that his country 'categorically refutes Russia's unfounded allegations'.
"The United States was not involved in any way, period," he said. "Let us be clear on what Russia's draft resolution was and what it was not. It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that did not comport to Russia's predetermined and political narrative."
Investigations by Sweden, Germany and Denmark are reportedly still ongoing, with Wood saying that those inquiries should be allowed to proceed in a 'comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner'.
In February, an article by US journalist Seymour Hersh alleged that explosives were planted at the pipelines by US Navy divers on US President Joe Biden’s orders. The White House called it 'utterly false and total fiction'.
In March, the New York Times published a report claiming that US officials had intelligence suggesting a 'pro-Ukrainian group' was behind the Nord Stream pipeline blasts.
Kiev strongly denied any involvement in the explosions at the underwater sites, while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov claimed that 'clearly the authors of the attack want to divert attention' and called it an 'obvious misinformation campaign co-ordinated by the media'.
"The United States and its allies are trying to cover their tracks. Including, throwing in various kinds of fabrications and delusional versions and refusing to answer facts that are revealed and inconvenient for Washington," Nebenzia alleged at the UNSC meeting.
Back in September, the EU, US, NATO and Moscow all claimed 'sabotage' to be the reason for the incident. President Vladimir Putin said that the West had 'effectively attempted to destroy the pan-European energy infrastructure'.
Western countries avoided directly accusing Moscow although Biden accused Russia of 'pumping out disinformation and lies'.