Russia shocked at impunity over Nord Stream sabotage: Lavrov at G20

New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Russia is shocked at impunity over the Nord Stream sabotage in the area of NATO and EU's responsibility, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday, Sputnik News Agency reported.
While addressing the G20 ministerial meeting, Lavrov insisted on having a fair and swift investigation into the terror attack, regarding the Nord Stream issue, with the involvement of Russia and others.
"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 involvement of Russia and others concerned," he said, according to Sputnik news agency.
Lavrov was referring to the American investigative journalist and political writer Seymour Hersh alleged report that claimed that the September 2022 bombing of the undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines was carried out by the US in a covert operation, according to the findings of his investigation published in Substack.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hersh noted that the decision to damage the pipelines occurred after more than nine months of top-secret debates inside the Washington intelligence community.
The White House has dismissed the allegations as "utterly false and complete fiction."
While addressing the presser in New Delhi, Lavrov said that the West refused to include Russia's proposal on the need for an investigation of Nord Stream blasts in the G20 final declaration, according to Sputnik News Agency.
"They [Western countries] also refused to accept another fact in this context, which reflects the events that have taken place since then. I am referring to the terrorist act against the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Our proposal to include in the document the need for an impartial and honest investigation was categorically rejected by our Western partners," Lavrov said.
Lavrov landed in New Delhi on Tuesday for a two-day meeting of the G20 foreign ministers meeting.
The minister added that the West insisted on reproducing the same text that was adopted last year with mentioning the situation in Ukraine.
"The West insisted on reproducing the text on the situation around Ukraine, which was agreed at the G20 summit last year in Bali, completely ignoring our arguments that a lot of events have happened since then, including the sincere confessions of Mrs. [ex-German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, Mr. [former French President Francois] Hollande, Mr. [ex-Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko, and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky himself that none of them was going to fulfill the Minsk agreements and the purpose of signing the Minsk agreements from the point of view of Western interests was to gain time to pump Ukraine with weapons and prepare it for war against Russia, " Sputnik quoted Lavrov saying.
Lavrov said that "Western colleagues were speechless when they heard about Kiev's discrimination against Russian culture and language in Ukraine on the sidelines of the event. Instead, he said, they prefer to start a conversation with the "Russia invaded Ukraine" argument," Sputnik reported.
He also said that the final declaration couldn't be agreed upon due to a dispute between G20 members on the Ukraine conflict.
Russia's top diplomat, who arrived in New Delhi earlier this week to take part in the G20 Foreign Ministers' summit, stressed that Russia advocates for energy security and highlights the importance of granting all countries in need access to affordable energy resources.
Previously, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia said that Russia's Western partners on the UN Security Council were not showing any desire to cooperate in an independent investigation to verify a report that presented significant details that the United States was behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.(ANI)