NSC, White House Won’t Confirm Pro-Ukraine Group’s Alleged Role in Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage

Says European investigations must conclude before conclusions are drawn and 'follow-on actions' potentially taken

Gas bubbles from the Nord Stream 2 leak are seen reaching surface of the Baltic Sea, near Bornholm, Denmark, on Sept. 27, 2022. (Danish Defence Command/Handout via Reuters)

The New York Times has reported that U.S. intelligence sources believe the September 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage may have been the work of a pro-Ukrainian group made up of Russian or Ukrainian nationals. Yet on March 7, a spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC) offered guarded answers to questions about the reports.

The NSC’s John Kirby said Germany, Sweden, and Denmark are still investigating the causes of those leaks, which disrupted a formerly crucial conduit of energy between Russia and Europe in the midst of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“I’m just not going to get ahead of that investigative work,” Kirby told reporters.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said much the same when asked by a reporter on March 7 about whether the Times’ story had come up in President Biden’s meeting with German Chancellor Olof Scholz.

“I’m just not gonna go beyond the readout that we provided on Friday with the chancellor’s visit here,” she added.

Russia had reduced and eventually cut off the flow of natural gas through the Nord Stream system in the months preceding the attack.

Germany on March 7 said it was aware of the report but is still at work on its own investigation.

The NSC spokesman was also asked whether the possible involvement of a pro-Ukraine group could compromise U.S. relations with Germany, which has struck a more neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict than many other European nations. Germany has historically relied on Russia for a significant percentage of its oil and gas, thanks in recent years to the Nord Stream network.

“We do believe, and the president has said this, that it was an act of sabotage. But we need to let these investigations conclude. And only then should we be looking at what follow-on actions might or might not be appropriate,” Kirby responded.

Reporting on the possible involvement of a pro-Ukraine group has said that no evidence links those actions with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy or other officials in the government.

According to the New York Times, the sabotage was not carried out with the aid of any British or American nationals.

The Epoch Times has not been able to independently confirm these reports.

Notably, the Times’ narrative comes just weeks after veteran U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh reported that the leak was the result of a “covert sea operation” allegedly by the United States.

An aide for Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s government was “absolutely not involved,” adding that the government had no additional knowledge on the incident.

In addition, Russia has not yet confirmed the reported findings from U.S. intel sources.

The Epoch Times has sought comment from the Russian government and Gazprom, the state-owned energy company that operates Nord Stream.

High-profile independent journalists have voiced skepticism about the latest disclosures from U.S. intelligence sources, suggesting it is unlikely the United States was ignorant of such an undertaking, or that U.S. operatives were not somehow involved.

“Ukraine has virtually no Navy, but according to the new narrative, some ‘pro-Ukrainian’ randos took it upon themselves ‘without the approval of Zelensky’ to sail to Denmark and blow up nordstream in the deep sea,” wrote journalist Jordan Schachtel on Twitter.

“Two options: Either we helped Ukraine blow up the Nordstream pipeline...or we didn’t, found out later and continued to provide tens of billions to an ‘ally’ which finds it preferable to risk great power conflict and draw us in,” Breaking Points’ Saagar Enjeti said on Twitter. “Not sure which is worse.”

Reuters contributed to this reporting