Germany Open to Theories That a Western Country Attacked Nord Stream Pipelines

Western media reports have acknowledged there's no evidence Russia was behind the sabotage

The Times of London reported Thursday that Germany is “open” to theories that a Western country attacked the Nord Stream pipelines in an attempt to blame the incident on Russia.

The Times report reads: “The German investigation is thought to have made little progress so far, with officials having yet to uncover any compelling evidence. However, The Times understands that they remain open to theories that a western state carried out the bombing with the aim of blaming it on Russia.”

Since the attacks on the natural gas pipelines that connect Russia and Germany were discovered in September, none of the three countries investigating the incident — Germany, Sweden, and Denmark — have said publicly who they believe was responsible.

At the time of the attack, Western officials and media outlets pinned the blame on Russia even though both Nord Stream pipelines are mainly owned by Gazprom, the Russian state natural gas company. But recently, Western media has acknowledged there’s no evidence Moscow was responsible.

For their part, Russia has accused the UK of being involved in the Nord Stream sabotage. The Kremlin claimed it had intelligence that showed “British military specialists were directing and coordinating the attack.” But Moscow hasn’t offered any evidence, and the UK denies the claim.

The US has a motive for attacking the pipelines as it tried to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline’s construction for years. After the incident, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the explosions provided a “tremendous opportunity” to wean Europe off Russian gas.

Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, said at a Senate hearing last week that the Biden administration was happy the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was a “hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea.” She was addressing Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), and both used the term before the war to describe the pipeline as it was not delivering gas to Germany.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.