Lubmin
\nRussia may seek compensation over damage from last year\u2019s explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
\nThe pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea, were hit by unexplained blasts last September in what Moscow called an act of \u201cinternational terrorism\u201d.
\n\u201cWe do not rule out later the raising of the issue of compensation for damage as a result of the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines,\u201d Dmitry Birichevsky, head of Russia\u2019s foreign ministry department for economic cooperation, said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency.
\nHe added on Monday that Western countries were opposing a Russia-prepared draft UN Security Council resolution urging an independent international investigation of the Nord Stream blasts.
\n\u201cDespite this, we intend to continue to insist on a comprehensive and open international investigation with the mandatory participation of Russian representatives,\u201d Birichevsky said.
\nThe Nord Stream pipelines were intended to bring Russian gas to Germany, though since Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Berlin has taken steps to reduce its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would establish who was behind the blasts before claiming any compensation.
\n\u201cFor now the data indicates that such a large-scale act of sabotage and a terrorist attack against critical infrastructure could not have been carried out without the participation of the state and special state services,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cYou see that Western countries are taking all possible measures to cover up this issue\u2026 But Russia will do everything possible to prevent this from happening.\u201d
\nIn mid-March, President Vladimir Putin dismissed as \u201csheer nonsense\u201d allegations that Ukrainians could be behind the explosions that crippled the Nord Stream gas pipelines, suggesting the United States may have been responsible.
\nThe Russian leader insisted the US had a motive to carry out the attack in the Baltic Sea last year, saying it wanted to halt supplies of cheap Russian natural gas to Europe and provide the continent with more expensive liquefied natural gas.
\nSeptember\u2019s explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines rendered them inoperable and caused significant leaks of methane gas.
\nThe leaks in the Baltic Sea led to what is likely the biggest single release of climate-damaging methane ever recorded, the United Nations Environment Programme said.
\nWestern countries, including Germany, have said they believe the blasts were a deliberate act but declined to say who they think was responsible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lubmin Russia may seek compensation over damage from last year\u2019s explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea, were hit by unexplained blasts last September in what Moscow called an act of \u201cinternational terrorism\u201d. \u201cWe do not rule out later the raising of the issue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-322208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n