Moscow 'shocked' at impunity of West over Nord Stream blasts: Russia's Lavrov at G20

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, March 2 said that Russia was shocked at the impunity of the Western states over the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage in the area of NATO and EU's responsibility. Speaking at the two-day meeting of the G20 foreign ministers in New Delhi, Lavrov reiterated that it is "high time to reform the UN Security Council," adding that the UN charter says "that every state must adhere to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of any other state." Lavrov asserted that there's a need to advocate for energy security for developing countries, as well as grant all countries in need access to affordable energy resources.

"We are witnessing the degradation of international economic relations provoked by the West, their transformation into a weapon, including in the energy sector. We insist on a fair and swift investigation into the terror attack with the involvement of Russia and others concerned," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, noted at the G20 meeting in India. 

Lavrov slams West for 'arming' Ukraine for years 

Lavrov furthermore stated that the ongoing "special military operation" in Ukraine "reflects the reaction to the war the West was preparing for many years and that is why it was arming the Ukrainian regime." Meanwhile, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also held wide-ranging discussions with his Russian counterpart Lavrov on bilateral cooperation, the Ukraine conflict, and issues relating to G-20.

With respect to the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia, had also earlier accused Kyiv's "Western allies" on the UN Security Council of not being willing to cooperate in an independent investigation that would go on to confirm that the United States was behind the blast on the pipeline that ran under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Europe to transport gas.

An investigative report, released by a US-based journalist, claimed that the US Navy divers planted explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines during NATO Baltops exercises in 2022 that led to the sabotage of the facility. He squarely laid blame on the US Navy for blowing up two underwater pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Germany, leaving millions of gallons of methane bubbling on the Baltic Sea that caused a major environmental hazard. Accusations were also hurled at the United States by Russia's President Vladimir Putin who blamed Washington and its allies for the act. Putin rejected "stupid" theories in the West that Russians sabotaged the pipelines themselves that carried an estimated 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe.

Russia's Defence Ministry, in its own independent investigation, accused UK Royal Navy of sabotaging the 1,230 km twin gas pipeline infrastructure. British Navy officers blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Moscow's Defence Ministry declared, adding that the MoD of Russia obtained significant evidence of the sabotage. "Royal Navy representatives took part in the planning and implementation of a terrorist act in the Baltic Sea on September 26 to blow up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines,” the MoD said in a statement, citing the evidence.