“Western media has been inundated with stories claiming the terrorist attack against the Nord Stream pipeline was conducted by a ‘pro Ukrainian group’, not by Russia”, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated in response to Seymour Hersh’s latest article on the Nord Stream Cover-Up.
“Who allows such leaks to flood the media?”, Zakharova asked on Telegram. “The answer is: Those who do not want a real investigation, and who want to distract from the facts by any means possible. Instead of such leaks, the Western regimes involved should respond to official requests from the Russian side and, at least take the results of Seymour Hersh’s investigative journalism into consideration, rather than distracting from them with anonymous red herrings.”
At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California) asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken whether he could “assure the world that no agency of the US government blew up those pipelines or facilitated that.”
“Yes, I can” Blinken answered.
Blinken assures the U.S. Congress that no U.S. government agency is responsible for the Nord Stream pipeline bombings. pic.twitter.com/dU1ghHZ11i
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) March 23, 2023
In response, the Russian Embassy in Washington charged the US government is “obstructing efforts to investigate the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines” in a statement Thursday, RT reports.
“We have to remind that statements by US officials, who have repeatedly resorted to deceit and disinformation, including at international fora, are not trustworthy,” the embassy said.
US explanations do not “withstand criticism,” the Embassy said, “above all due to their lack of transparency and blocking access for (pipeline owner) Gazprom to determine the circumstances of the sabotage.”
“We consistently and persistently call for the launch of an impartial and transparent international investigation into the attacks against the Nord Stream pipelines. However, the United States, along with a narrow group of like-minded states, vehemently oppose such efforts,” the Russian Embassy stated.
The UN Security Council will vote on a draft resolution submitted by Russia about investigating last year’s sabotage attacks against the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines on March 27, Russia’s UN mission said on Thursday.
“The vote will take place on March 27 at 10 pm,” TASS reported.