State Department: 'Preposterous' for Russia to Blame US for Pipeline Sabotage

The Biden administration on Wednesday dismissed as “Russian disinformation” suggestions that the United States was behind the apparent sabotage of two major Russia-to-Europe natural gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.

“The idea that the United States was in any way involved in the apparent sabotage of these pipelines is preposterous,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a briefing. “It is nothing more than a function of Russian disinformation and should be treated as such.”

Two explosions under the Baltic Sea were registered by seismic monitors hours apart on Monday, and three leaks were reported from the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines that run along the seabed.

The U.S. government, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and European countries including Sweden and Denmark, have said the leaks were seemingly the result of sabotage.