STOCKHOLM (Portal) – Sweden will not share the results of the investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipelines explosions with Russian authorities or Gazprom, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Monday.
A Swedish crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe has found evidence of detonations and prosecutors suspect sabotage.
Last week, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin sent a letter to the Swedish government demanding that Russian authorities and Gazprom could be involved in the investigation, which Sweden refused.
On Monday, Andersson said Sweden would not even share the results of the explosions in Sweden’s economic zone with Russian authorities.
“In Sweden, our investigations are confidential, and of course that also applies to this case,” she told reporters.
However, Andersson said Sweden had no power to prevent Russian ships from visiting the sites of the blasts after investigations into the scene were completed.
“The Swedish Economic Zone is not a territory owned by Sweden. We’ve lifted the lockdowns from time to time, and then other ships can be in the area too, that’s how the rules work,” she said
Swedish and Danish authorities have investigated four leaks after the pipelines linking Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea, which have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis, were damaged last month.
Europe, which used to depend on Russia for about 40% of its gas, is facing an energy crisis after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that has drastically cut supplies of the fuel.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by David Evans)