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The United Nations Security Council rejected “Monday” a draft resolution submitted by Russia calling for the formation of an “independent international commission of inquiry” into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines last September.
The text supported by China and non-members of the Council (Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Syria) won three votes (Russia, China and Brazil), while the remaining 12 members abstained from voting.
For the text to be adopted, at least nine members must vote in favor of it, and no permanent member of the Council must veto it.
The text calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish the commission with the aim of “conducting a comprehensive, transparent and impartial international investigation into all aspects of the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, including identifying the perpetrators, planners, organizers and accomplices.”
Russia justified its request by emphasizing that it had been excluded from the investigations conducted by Sweden, Germany and Denmark, noting that Stockholm, Berlin and Copenhagen rejected the Russian accusation.
“We have great and well-founded doubts about the objectivity and transparency of national investigations being conducted by certain European countries,” said Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya, noting also “doubts” about the measures that were carried out under the cover of investigations “to obliterate evidence and clean up crime scenes.”
He continued, “I think that after today’s vote, suspicions have become clear about who is behind the sabotage of Nord Stream.”
Many members of the Council refused to propose the formation of an international commission, stressing their confidence in the three countries conducting the investigations, and denouncing Russia’s attempt to divert attention from Ukraine.
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said that the decision was “an attempt to undermine the credibility of the national investigations and damage their future results if they do not come in line with the predetermined Russian political narrative,” rejecting “strongly baseless Russian accusations” against the United States.
About six months after the explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, it is not yet clear who was responsible for the underwater attack.