Putin insists that Nord Stream blasts were ordered by the White House

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected US intelligence's claim that the 2022 attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines were caused by a pro-Ukrainian group. Reuters reported that the Russian leader has labeled the claim as “complete nonsense”.

“An explosion of this kind, of this power, at this depth can only be carried out by specialists, and supported by the full power of the state, which has certain technologies,” Putin said, according to Reuters.

“One should always look for those who are interested. And who is interested? Theoretically, of course, the United States is interested,” the Russian leader pointed out.

A few weeks earlier, The New York Times reported that according to US intelligence, a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines last year.

However, the New York Times highlights, neither Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky nor his country's armed forces were aware of the operation.

On September 26, 2022, a series of clandestine underwater bombings affected Nord Streams 1 and 2 rendering them inoperable.

For several months, the United States and the European Union have hinted that the Kremlin was behind the sabotage of the pipes carrying gas from Russia to Germany.

Russia, meanwhile, has denied having anything to do with the attack. Time seems to have proven them right. However, it's hardly the only theory about the Nord Stream sabotage.

Putin's claim lends weight to a journalistic investigation published back in February, which pointed toward the White House as the possible perpetrator.

Specifically, this was a report published by independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published on his Substack under the title ‘How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline’.

Hersh won the Pulitzer Award in 1970 for his work uncovering the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War.

Swedish and German authorities reported that their inquiries revealed signs of sabotage. However, they haven’t come to conclusions about who could be responsible.

According to Hersh, President Joe Biden ordered specialized US navy divers to attack the pipelines used to transport gas from Russia to Germany and the rest of Western Europe. The reporter claims to have an anonymous source who participated in the explosions.

Hersh writes that the Navy divers, using the highly-publicized NATO exercises BALTOPS 22, planted the bombs last June.

Three months later, Hersh’s version theorizes, the explosives were set off disrupting Nord Stream 1's pipes A and B and Nord Stream 2's pipe A.

NATO and European Union officials claimed that the gas pipeline explosions were acts of sabotage while being careful to name culprits, but heavily hinting towards Russia.

The Washington Post, on the other hand, published on December 2022 that there was no firm evidence that connects the explosions with the Kremlin.

In 2021, the European Union imported 83% of its natural gas, half of which came from Russia and its state company Gazprom.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 caused the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to be used to pressure Europe. The BBC reported that Moscow reduced the gas supply by almost 90% by the time of the explosions.

The European Commission has been forced to take drastic measures to prepare for winter, something that has displeased more than a few EU members.

“President Joseph Biden saw the pipelines as a vehicle for Vladimir Putin to weaponize natural gas for his political and territorial ambitions,” Hersh writes.

The Pulitzer-winning journalist adds that “From its earliest days, Nord Stream 1 was seen by Washington and its anti-Russian NATO partners as a threat to Western dominance.”

“The issue was not whether to do the mission but how to get it done with no over clue as to who was responsible,” concludes Hersh.

The White House has called Hersh’s report “utterly false and complete fiction.”

The CIA and the State Department have also denied Hersh’s claims.

Meanwhile, Maria Zakharova, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, made a call to the White House to address the events presented in Hersh’s report.

“We have repeatedly voiced Russia's position on the involvement of the United States and NATO,” Zakharova wrote, as quoted by Newsweek.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had accused the United States of blowing up the pipeline, just a few days before Hirsh released his report.

President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, defined the gas pipeline attacks as “an unprecedented act of international terrorism”.