After some Western governments were quick to blame Russia for sabotaging the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, The Washington Post is now reporting that Moscow may not be responsible after all.
Investigations have been occurring for months now, with a European official telling the paper “there is no evidence” of Moscow’s involvement in the Sept. 22 attack, “echoing the assessment of 23 diplomatic and intelligence officials in nine countries interviewed in recent weeks.”
Some went so far as to say they didn’t think Russia was responsible. Others who still consider Russia a prime suspect said positively attributing the attack — to any country — may be impossible.
In the months after the explosions, which resulted in what was probably one of the largest-ever single releases of methane gas, investigators have combed through debris and analyzed explosives residue recovered from the bed of the Baltic Sea. Seismologists have pinpointed the timing of three explosions on Sept. 26, which caused four leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.
No one doubts that the damage was deliberate. An official with the German government, which is conducting its own investigation, said explosives appear to have been placed on the outside of the structures.
But even those with inside knowledge of the forensic details don’t conclusively tie Russia to the attack, officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share information about the progress of the investigation, some of which is based on classified intelligence.
“Forensics on an investigation like this are going to be exceedingly difficult,” said a senior U.S. State Department official. (WaPo)
Fox News’s Tucker Carlson was not surprised to see the latest reporting.
Remember Nordstream?
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) December 23, 2022
Tucker Carlson: "The Washington Post of all places now reporting 'some Western officials now doubt the Kremlin was responsible.' Oh you think?!" pic.twitter.com/kEfpbDF4XE
“It’s a binary here," he said. "It’s Russia against a Western coalition led by the United States so either Russia blew up the Nord Stream pipeline or the Biden administration had a hand in blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline. Those are your two options, so if Russia didn’t do it, then the people who suggested maybe the Biden people were behind it were 100 percent right.”
Carlson pointed to the time Biden vowed to end the pipeline if Russia invades. “Then there will be longer Nord Stream 2,” the president said in early February. “We will bring an end to it."
A reporter wondered how he would do that since the project is in Germany’s control.
"I promise you we will be able to do it."
Carlson also referenced comments State Department official Victoria Nuland made in January. She said the pipeline would "not move forward…one way or another” if Russia followed through on its invasion of Ukraine.
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