Russia on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction with the United Nations (UN) Security Council over its inaction on an international investigation of the September 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines.
Talking to reporters after Security Council consultations on the incident, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said his country drew the attention of the council members to “the absolutely unsatisfactory situation” around the investigation of the Nord Stream sabotage.
Exactly a year ago, in March 2023, the Security Council was not able to take action on a Russian draft resolution asking the UN secretary-general to make a proposal on an international investigation. Later, Russia proposed a Security Council Presidential Statement on the same subject, which was also blocked, said Polyanskiy.
Those council members against action said they wanted to give some time to national investigations of Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Since then, any Russian attempt to push for Security Council action was declined by the United States and its allies, he said.
“The mentioned national investigations of Denmark, Sweden and Germany were proceeding without any results. There was absolutely no transparency for Russia, and they rejected any attempts to establish bilateral cooperation with Russia though Russia is undoubtedly the affected state in this situation,” said the diplomat.
Polyanskiy said the national investigations were so inconclusive that it is like spending a year investigating into a murder case and coming up with a conclusion that it was indeed a murder.
“Of course this is unsatisfactory. I would say that this is a mockery of international efforts,” he said.
Polyanskiy said that the only aim of the investigations by Denmark, Sweden and Germany is to win time and complicate international efforts to ensure accountability for the Nord Stream sabotage.
“If we do not ensure accountability, we are on a very slippery slope, admitting that destruction of infrastructure facilities in international waters can go unpunished,” he said. “We also act on the premise that members of the Security Council will work in good faith and are interested in bringing those who blew up Nord Stream to justice. Therefore, we reserve the right to renew the efforts to bring about an international investigation of Nord Stream sabotage and to come forward with relevant proposals.”
