Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, a Russian diplomat who has been foreign minister since 2004, said today that it appears that no European Union country intends to conduct an objective investigation into the series of explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September. Reuters.

"After the Nord Stream explosions, the circumstances of which no one in the EU seems to be investigating objectively, the transportation of Russian gas along the northern routes was suspended," he said.

Lavrov noted that in these conditions, Russia ensures the supply of gas through the Black Sea gas pipelines.

"We are conducting negotiations with Ankara and other foreign colleagues to establish a gas distribution center on the territory of Turkey," he added.

Russia has blamed Great Britain for the explosions, but London denies these claims, Reuters notes.

Investigators in Sweden and Denmark said the blasts were caused by deliberate sabotage, but did not say who the likely perpetrator might have been.

First close-up footage of Nord Stream 2's blasted pipes

The Washington Post newspaper today cited comments from diplomats and intelligence officials who said no indisputable evidence had been found that Russia itself was behind the attacks.

Such claims were made by some Western governments and analysts immediately after the explosions.

The outlet said some of its sources now believe it will likely be impossible to establish who is responsible for the attacks."

The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines have a combined annual capacity of 110 billion cubic meters – more than half of Russia's normal gas export volume.

Segments of the 1,224-kilometer-long pipelines that connect Russia to Germany lie at a depth of about 80 to 110 meters, and Moscow said it has not yet decided whether to try to repair them, BTA noted.

Sergey Lavrov

European Union

Nord Stream

explosions