The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was “extremely concerned” by the leaks detected on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, considering that “no” hypothesis should be excluded, including that of sabotage.
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“We are extremely concerned regarding this news,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, calling the available information “very alarming.”
“Indeed, the pressure has dropped significantly” in the gas pipelines, he added. Asked regarding the possibility of an act of sabotage, he replied: “No option can be ruled out”.
“It is obvious that there is some kind of breakdown (…), but it is impossible to exclude anything before the results are available”, continued Mr. Peskov, stressing that the functioning of Nord Stream 1 was a matter of “energy security of the entire (European) continent”.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, built to transport Russian gas to Europe, have been affected in turn by unexplained leaks in the Baltic Sea and revealed by the Danish and Swedish authorities.
These two gas pipelines, operated by a consortium dependent on the Russian giant Gazprom, are at the heart of the tensions between Moscow and Europe in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
Deliveries by Nord Stream 1, a gas pipeline that supplies Germany and other European countries, are thus suspended, officially for technical reasons. Nord Stream 2 has never delivered gas, for lack of a permit.
But the two tubes were still filled with gas, which explains the leaks.