Attacks on the two Russian gas pipelines to Europe have alarmed much of the continent and various international organizations, mainly the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which will address the issue on Friday. The Security Council, at the request of Russia, will discuss the leak of gas into the Baltic Sea caused by the incident.
Russia and EU issue warnings
Russia and its European partners have spent billions of dollars developing the Nord Stream pipelines. After several member states complained about the damaged pipelines, the European Union (EU) threatened a “robust and united response” if the disruption was discovered to be intentional, according to a diplomat. The EU, along with NATO, also warned of the need to protect critical infrastructure from what they called “sabotage”.
The Russian embassy in Denmark issued a statement that said that any attack on Nord Stream’s pipelines would be considered an attack on both Russia’s and Europe’s energy security.
Russia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and even the European Union are suspecting the possibility of sabotage on the two pipelines. The attack has disturbed energy markets and heightened security concerns.
According to the German magazine Spiegel, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) warned Germany a few weeks ago about possible attacks on gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
Spiegel stated that the German government received the CIA warning in the summer, citing unknown sources and that Berlin assumed a targeted attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.
What are the Nord Stream pipelines and their role in the energy crisis in Europe?
The Nord Stream pipelines have become the central crisis point in an energy war that has been escalating between Russia and other European nations. As a result, the major Western economies have suffered, as have gas prices.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline runs 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St. Petersburg to north-eastern Germany.
The subsea pipelines were destroyed by suspected explosions on Tuesday. The Nord Stream pipeline, which was previously the primary supply channel for Russian gas to Germany, has been closed and is currently difficult to open. The brand-new Nord Stream 2 pipeline had not yet begun receiving commercial traffic.
Opened in 2011, it has the capacity of sending a maximum of 170 million cubic metres of gas per day from Russia to Germany. Russia has cut the amount of gas it sends to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by closing it temporarily, citing necessary repairs to technical faults.
