Putin: Gas leak in the Baltics is an act of international terrorism
Footage frame from the Danish Defense of what it says is a gas leak from the pipelines
photo: BBC
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Amid the exchange of accusations over a leak in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, Russian President Vladimir Putin considered these attacks an "international terrorist act."
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that what had happened was an unprecedented act of sabotage.
On the other hand, the call touched on cooperation between Moscow and Ankara in the energy field within the framework of implementing contracts for supplying Russian natural gas to Turkey and the joint construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
These developments came after significant international tensions during the past few days, such as a large gas leak in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
The European Union has announced that it suspects that there is an act of sabotage behind the leakage of gas from Russian pipelines under the sea to Europe and promised a strong response to any deliberate disruption of energy infrastructure.
Moscow believes that the United States is the beneficiary of the accident, noting that the leak in the "Northern Stream" lines occurred in an area controlled by American intelligence, Al-Arabiya reported.
Adrian Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House, responded to the Russian accusation and said it was absurd for Russia to imply that the United States could be responsible for the leak.
What made matters worse is that these two pipelines have been, in recent months, at the center of geopolitical tensions between the West and Moscow, significantly after it cut gas supplies to Europe in response to Western sanctions against it due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Although the pipelines, operated by a consortium of firms, most of which are owned by Russia's Gazprom, are currently out of service, both pipelines still contain gas, which has alarmed many officials and environmental and climate experts worldwide.
The spill occurred in international waters off the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, between southern Sweden and Poland, an area long considered one of the world's most closely monitored expanses of water.
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