Europe

Fourth leak found on Nord Stream pipelines, Swedish coast guard says

Western leaders have steered clear of assigning blame for the pipeline damage

The European Union suspects sabotage was behind the gas leaks on the subsea Russian pipelines to Europe and has promised a 'robust' response to any intentional disruption of its energy infrastructure. Photograph: Armed Forces Of Denmark

Thu Sep 29 2022 - 07:36

Sweden’s coast guard discovered a fourth gas leak on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines earlier this week, a spokesperson told the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

The European Union suspects sabotage was behind the gas leaks on the subsea Russian pipelines to Europe and has promised a "robust" response to any intentional disruption of its energy infrastructure.

"Two of these four are in Sweden's exclusive economic zone," coast guard spokesperson Jenny Larsson told the paper late on Wednesday. The other two breaches are in the Danish exclusive economic zone.

The coast guard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Thursday.

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While neither pipeline was in use at the time of the suspected blasts, they were filled with gas that has been spewing out in the Baltic Sea since Monday's ruptures.

The fourth leak was on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, in close proximity to a larger hole found on the nearby Nord Stream 1, the Swedish coast guard said.

[ EU countries increase security after apparent pipeline sabotage ]

This week, Danish authorities reported one hole in each of the two pipeline sections in their waters.

“Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said, adding it would “lead to the strongest possible response”.

Western leaders have steered clear of assigning blame for the pipeline damage, but Norway said it would step up security at its oil and gas installations, while Nato and the EU both stressed the importance of ensuring other infrastructure is secure in the wake of the incident.

In a conference call with reporters earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed any speculation that Russia could have attacked the pipelines.

“That’s quite predictable and also predictably stupid,” he said. “Now the gas is flying off into the air... Are we interested in that? No, we are not, we have lost a route for gas supplies to Europe.” – Reuters

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