Although he did not specifically blame Moscow for the sabotage, President Joe Biden described the Nord Stream pipeline leaks as a “deliberate act of sabotage” and charged that President Vladimir Putin of Russia was “feeding out disinformation and lies.”
The US is collaborating with partners to “get to the bottom of exactly – precisely what happened,” according to Biden, and he has already allocated funding to help friends strengthen pipeline safeguards.
The first time Biden has referred to the incident as an act of sabotage was when he remarked, “Let me say this, it was an intentional act of sabotage and now the Russians are putting out disinformation and lies.”
He stated, “We’re going to send the divers down to find out exactly what happened at the proper period when things quiet down. “We’re not sure of that yet.”
Putin’s account of the incident, according to Biden, is “not true.”
The two Russian gas pipelines, Nord Stream 1 and 2, have experienced leaks, and the West has claimed that sabotage is most likely to blame.
Following the discovery of leaks in the pipes on Monday, European authorities launched investigations and found that numerous locations had had significant underwater explosions shortly prior to the pipelines bursting.
Long before Russia started its conflict with Ukraine, there were concerns about the European Union’s reliance on Russian energy, which contributed to the controversy surrounding the pipelines, which were built to transport gas from Russia into the European Union.
In an effort to further crack down on Russian supply chains and the individuals in charge, which are crucial to supporting the war effort, the US earlier on Friday announced fresh measures, including a combination of export controls, visa restrictions, and asset freezes.