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When the Nord Stream pipelines, carrying vital energy supplies from Russia to Europe, mysteriously exploded last September, evidence quickly and unequivocally pointed to an act of sabotage, although the culprit was unclear until last week.

In an explosive article, veteran US journalist Seymour Hersh explained how the US government planned the attack. More specifically U.S. Navy divers led by President Joe Biden secretly conducted the mission that severely damaged the multi-billion dollar infrastructure being built by Russian energy giant Gazprom that connects Russia and Germany.

Two of the pipelines, collectively known as Nord Stream 1, supplied cheap Russian natural gas to Germany and much of Western Europe for more than a decade. The construction of Nord Stream 2 should double the amount of gas that Russia could send to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Although construction was completed in September 2021, the infrastructure never went live after Berlin halted the project just before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict began.

The Nord Stream pipelines are important transboundary arteries of energy infrastructure and transportation. The explosions had a huge negative impact on the world energy market and the environment. In many European countries, this also led to power outages for companies and private households this winter.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist noted that the decision to damage the pipelines came after more than nine months of covert debates within Washington’s intelligence community. Most of the time, the question was not whether the operation should be done, but how it should be done without revealing U.S. participation, according to the experienced journalist.

U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson described the report as “complete fiction”, while a spokesman for the Central Intelligence Agency called the report “complete and absolutely false”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the U.S. officials have essentially acknowledged their role in the pipeline explosion. According to Lavrov, the U.S. decided that Russia and Germany had worked “too well” together over the past few decades while building a powerful alliance based on Russian resources and German technology.

“This was beginning to threaten the monopoly position of many American corporations. So it was necessary to kind of screw it up and do it literally,” the minister said.

“There is an aspect here that has to do with the fact that friendship between countries, national reconciliation between them, as happened between Russians and Germans, has become a thorn in the side of those who do not want anyone appears somewhere on this planet that will compete with the main hegemony that the United States has declared to be,” Lavrov added.

The action was aimed at stifling Russia’s trade gains amid its war with Ukraine. The U.S. also believed the pipelines gave Russia political clout over Germany and western Europe, which could be used to weaken its involvement in Ukraine after the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. It means that the U.S. government committed a terrorist attack against vital German infrastructure.

China believes there must be an objective, impartial and professional investigation into the blasts and those responsible must be held accountable. China supports speeding up the investigation to find out the truth quickly. As the most authoritative and representative international organisation, the United Nations can play an active role in conducting an international inquiry. China noted and welcomed the draft resolution tabled by Russia in the Council.

It is becoming increasingly clear that what happened to the Nord Stream pipelines was not an accident, but a deliberate act. Failing to discover why it happened and who is behind the destruction, evil actors may stand a chance, encouraging them to do whatever they want and even instigating further terrorist activity, further destabilising the already ailing global security landscape. The interests of all countries are at stake.

China reiterated that the Nord Stream explosions are affecting not only the economy but also people’s livelihoods. More importantly, it is a political issue that affects the security and stability of all of Europe. In the context of the Ukraine crisis, the blasts have exacerbated tensions in the region, increased antagonism and confrontation, and made dialogue and negotiations even more difficult. This has made hopes for a balanced, effective security architecture and sustainability in Europe even more elusive.

Faced with detailed materials and evidence, the relevant countries’ simple denials are obviously not enough to answer everyone’s questions and concerns, and does not mean that the truth can be covered up. China said that it hoped that the relevant parties can find out the truth as soon as possible in order to ensure the safety of the most important transnational infrastructure as well as regional and world peace and security.