Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that Germany’s response to the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipeline indicates that the country is still “occupied” and unable to act independently years after laying their weapons down at the end of World War II.
He has called claims holding the Ukrainians responsible for the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines “sheer nonsense.” and has instead pointed a finger at the United States.
Putin made these comments after stories were published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and German media last week citing unnamed US and other sources as claiming there was proof Ukraine, or at least “pro-Ukrainian elements,” may have been involved in the explosions. The government of Ukraine has strongly denied any connection.
On Tuesday, he claimed that the Baltic Sea attack last year was carried out by the United States because Washington sought to cut off Europe’s access to inexpensive Russian natural gas in favour of more expensive liquefied natural gas. He went on to say that an explosion of that magnitude and depth could only be carried out by specialists supported with the full resources of a state with the necessary technologies.
Investigators think that five men and one woman chartered a yacht from a company controlled by Ukrainians in Poland and sailed to the target area to carry out the attack, according to reports in the German media. Federal prosecutors in Germany have verified that a yacht was searched in January, but they have not corroborated the claimed results.
Russia’s Kremlin said last week that Western assertions that the Ukrainian government was involved in the blasts are a cover-up.
In a media interview in Russia, Putin said that European leaders had been pressured into giving up their countries’ autonomy. Many Western nations, including Germany in particular, have kept largely silent on the topic of who they blame for the blasts.
Putin claims that European politicians have formally acknowledged the fact that post-war Germany was never a fully autonomous state. He minced no words as he criticised the United States for not terminating its occupation of Germany when the Soviet Union withdrew its soldiers and formally terminated its possession of the country. He stated, “Germany is still under occupation.”
The original intention of the Nord Stream pipelines was to send Russian gas to Germany, but with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Berlin has taken measures to lessen its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.
Notwithstanding Defence Minister Boris Pistorius’s suggestion last week that the explosions may have been a “false-flag operation to accuse Ukraine,” Berlin’s leaders have been cautious about assigning responsibility for the attacks.
Putin also lambasted European politicians for their silence on the issue, saying it showed Europe’s “subservient position” in relations with the United States.”The Europeans have lost a gene of independence, sovereignty, and national interest,” Putin stated with a chuckle. When Americans strike them on the face or the crown of the head, “their smiles get bigger and their heads get lower.”
Nord Stream Explosions
The explosions in September that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines and produced major methane gas leaks left both pipelines useless.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the leaks in the Baltic Sea caused the largest single discharge of climate-altering methane ever recorded.
Many Western nations, notably Germany, have already stated their conviction that the explosions were an act of terrorism but have refrained from pointing fingers.
At first, US officials speculated that Russia was to blame. Moscow has placed the blame on the United States and Britain. The investigations conducted by European countries have not yet produced definitive conclusions. This includes Denmark, whose waterways the pipeline goes through, and Germany.
Putin stated his disappointment that Russia was not given access to the investigation’s evidence. He also mentioned that the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom had sent a ship to inspect the seafloor in the area of the explosion and that the ship had discovered what looked like an antenna near a junction in the pipes located roughly 30 kilometres (16 nautical miles) from the blast location.
According to Putin, the antenna may have been planted on the ocean floor to activate a second explosive device that, for some reason, failed to go off. He also said that Russian officials expect a joint team of Danish officials to carry out a thorough search of the region.
The US military and CIA destroyed the pipelines with direct agreement from US President Joe Biden, according to an anonymous source cited by Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative writer Seymour Hersh in a blog post published last month.
