Putin Blames West for Blowing Up Pipelines as Europe Steps Up Vigilance

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to declare the annexation of the Russian-controlled territories of four Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the Georgievsky Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 30, 2022. Dmitry Astakhov/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters

TBILISI/LONDON—Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the United States and its allies for blowing up the undersea Nord Stream pipelines, raising the temperature in a crisis that has left Europe racing to secure its energy infrastructure and supplies.

“The sanctions were not enough for the Anglo-Saxons: they moved onto sabotage,” Putin said. “It is hard to believe but it is a fact that they organised the blasts on the Nord Stream international gas pipelines.”