Russia seeks US response over Truss' 'it's done' SMS to Blinken after Nord Stream blasts

On October 30th, Kim Dotcom, an internet entrepreneur and free speech activist shared a tweet claiming that just after the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up, Liz Truss, who was serving as the British PM at that time, sent a message to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying "it's done", as per a report from Sputnik. Kim Dotcom wrote on Twitter, "How do the Russians know that the UK blew up the North Stream pipelines in partnership with the US? Because Liz Truss used her iPhone to send a message to Antony Blinken saying “It’s done” a minute after the pipeline blew up and before anybody else knew? iCloud admin access rocks!"

Now, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has demanded that the UK answer these allegations and come clean. “To be honest, I don’t care who got this information and how. I’m interested in London’s answer to the following question: Did Prime Minister Liz Truss of Britain send a message to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken immediately after the Nord Stream gas pipeline was blown up with the words ‘It’s done’?” asked Maria Zakharova on Telegram as per Sputnik. This report comes at the heels of reports in British media that Truss' phone was hacked by Russian spies. 

Who was behind the attack on Nord Stream pipelines?

However, there is some confusion if Liz Truss sent this alleged message from the phone that was hacked or some other phone as Kim Dotcom claimed on Twitter that this wasn't the phone that the British media was reporting about. Although, the fact that Russia's foreign ministry is officially seeking an answer to this question indicates that it isn't complete speculation. After the blasts on Nord Stream pipelines, most western nations blamed Russia for the blast. Russia denied this accusation and asked why they would destroy a project on which they spend billions of dollars. When Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed top Russian officials during the formal annexation of four Ukrainian regions, he blamed the "anglo saxons" for the Nord Stream attack and said that it has set a dangerous precedent. It is worth highlighting that Russia did not blame a specific nation or entity but used a broad term.

 A month-long investigation conducted by the Russian military has now concluded that the Royal Navy was responsible for the blast. The US has benefited significantly from the decline in Europe's Russian energy imports. As per a report from Wall Street Journal, American LNG companies are seeing a surge in demand, which is good for their business but not necessarily good for Europe as American LNG is a lot more expensive than Russian energy. Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europeans have to pay 3-4 times more for gas compared to what American consumers pay, adding that "it is not fair". Before Macron, the German economy minister has made a similar point.