VIENNA, Mar 8 Austrian Defense Minister Claudia Tanner believes that before to draw conclusions regarding media information about the «Ukrainian trace» in the explosions of the Nord Streams, you need to check the available data.
New York Times reported on the eve of the presence of intelligence, according to which a certain pro-Ukrainian group, whose plans were not necessarily known in Kiev, was behind the shutdown of the main route of Russian gas supplies to Europe. In turn, the German newspaper Zeit wrote that traces of the attack on the pipelines lead in the direction of Ukraine.
«Here I share the opinion of my German colleagues that first you need to check for sure what is behind this,» Tanner said, commenting to journalists on media publications about the «Ukrainian trace» before the start of an informal meeting of foreign and defense ministers in Sweden. The press approach was broadcast on the EC website.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday on Deutschlandfunk radio that he took note of media reports about the «Ukrainian trace» in the Nord Stream bombings, but did not intend to comment on hypothetical assumptions.
In September last year, two Russian export gas pipelines to Europe, Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2, exploded at once. Germany, Denmark and Sweden did not rule out targeted sabotage. The Nord Stream operator Nord Stream AG reported that the state of emergency on gas pipelines is unprecedented and it is impossible to estimate the repair time. The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia initiated a case on an act of international terrorism. On October 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin reported that Gazprom was allowed to inspect the site of the explosion and the head of the company, Alexei Miller, reported to him about the inspection. Putin said that the explosion on the gas pipeline is an obvious terrorist attack.