Ukraine's Defense Minister denies any connection to the Nord Stream sabotage

BRUSSELS, 8 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksi Reznikov, has rejected this Wednesday any relationship of the Ukrainian authorities with the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in Baltic waters in September last year, after several publications have indicated that the attack was perpetrated by six people from a chartered yacht from a Polish-based company owned by two Ukrainians.

"This story is a bit strange for me. It has nothing to do with us and the official investigation will describe all the details. It is not our activity," Reznikov said upon arrival at the meeting of European Defense Ministers in Sweden, about the publications in the press about the origin of the attack.

These statements come after the American newspaper 'The New York Times' pointed out that United States Intelligence has reports on the participation of a pro-Ukrainian group in the sabotage, while an investigation by the German press suggests that the attack was perpetrated from a Ukrainian yacht chartered in Poland.

Faced with the statements by Ukraine, which has distanced itself from any relationship with the attack on the Russian gas pipeline, the European Union and NATO have avoided speaking out, stressing that national investigations must be allowed to advance to clarify this episode that occurred in the Baltic Sea.

"I cannot comment on things for which I do not have clear evidence and information," said the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, from Stockholm when asked about this case.

He joins the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, who in statements also from the Swedish capital on Tuesday asked to wait for the final result of the investigations. "There are ongoing investigations and I don't see it as right to speculate who is behind it until the investigations and inquiries are complete," he said.

In any case, he stressed that it is an "attack" against critical infrastructure in Europe and highlights the vulnerabilities of these resources, such as Internet cables or gas pipelines, important for modern societies.