The UN Security Council refuses to investigate the Nord Stream explosions

Only Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Moscow-drafted resolution, while the other 12 council members abstained.

In order for a resolution to be adopted in the Security Council, at least nine members must vote in favor of it, provided that none of its five permanent members, Russia, China, France, the United States and Britain, veto it.

Russia proposed the resolution last month, just days before the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

“Without an objective and transparent international investigation, the truth about what happened will not be revealed,” Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, told the council before the vote.

• The explosions occurred on the two Nord Stream pipelines in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. Sweden, Denmark and Germany said last month that their separate investigations were still ongoing and that Russia had been informed.
• In a joint letter to the Security Council, the countries said the damage was caused by “strong explosions as a result of an act of sabotage.” The United States and NATO also described the incident as an “act of sabotage”.
• Most Security Council members who abstained on Monday said they did so because national investigations must be allowed to complete before action is considered at the United Nations.
• Russia complained that it was not informed of the ongoing national investigation, asserting without providing any evidence that the West was behind the bombings.
• “The United States has not interfered in any way,” said Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, accusing Russia of trying to “discredit the ongoing national investigations and damage any conclusions reached that do not agree with Russia’s predetermined political narrative.”