Fourth leak at Nord Stream pipelines reported
Sweden's coastguard said on September 29 it had discovered a fourth leak along the Nord Stream pipelines, as Washington and Russia and the West trade accusations over who committed the suspected sabotage.
A second leak has been found in Swedish waters, the coastguard said on September 29. Another two are located in Danish waters.
The EU said on September 28 that "all available information indicates those leaks are the result of a deliberate act," and called for an investigation. "Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response."
Some European politicians have suggested Russia was behind the reported explosions that caused the leaks – accusations that the Kremlin has called "predictably stupid." Meanwhile Moscow has insinuated that Washington is to blame, given its longstanding opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. President Joe Biden "is obliged to answer the question of whether the US carried out its threat," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"We all know Russia has a long history of spreading disinformation and is doing it again here," Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the US National Security Council, responded.
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the leaks on September 30.