Latest reports suggest that Denmark has dropped its investigation into the 2022 explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany, becoming the second country to do so after Sweden closed a separate inquiry.
Recall that the multibillion-dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of blasts in the Swedish and Danish economic zones in September 2022, releasing vast amounts of methane into the air.
Russia and the west, at loggerheads over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February that year, have pointed fingers at one another. Each has denied involvement and no one has taken responsibility.
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“There is not sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case in Denmark … and therefore the Copenhagen police has decided to conclude the criminal investigation of the explosions,” Denmark’s police said in a statement.
Sweden also dropped its investigation into the explosions this month, saying it lacked jurisdiction in the case but had handed evidence to German investigators, who are yet to publish any findings.
Russia said that Denmark’s decision was “close to absurdity”.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Copenhagen recognised the blasts had been an act of premeditated sabotage, but had decided not to go further with the investigation because the case, he claimed, involved Denmark’s close allies.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
