Sweden Will Not Share The Findings Of Nord Stream Gas Pipe Investigations With Russia

Illustration of the Nord Stream gas pipeline network. (Wikimedia Commons/Pjotr Mahhonin)

JAKARTA - Sweden will not share findings of an investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipeline with Russian authorities or Gazprom, Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Monday.

The Swedish crime scene investigation team for the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe, has found evidence of an explosion and prosecutors suspect sabotage.

Last week Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin sent a letter to the Swedish government demanding that Russian authorities and Gazprom be allowed to engage in an investigation, which Sweden rejected.

On Monday, PM Andersson said Sweden would not even share findings of the explosion that occurred in the Swedish economic zone, with Russian authorities.

"In Sweden, our initial investigation was confidential, and it, of course, also goes into this case," he told reporters.

However, PM Andersson said Sweden had no power to ban Russian ships from visiting the site of the explosion now, after the crime scene investigation was complete.

"Swedish economic zones are not an area set by Sweden. We have lifted guard now and later also allowed other ships to be in the area, that's how the rules work," he explained.

Swedish and Danish authorities have investigated four leaks after pipeline networks, connecting Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea, became a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis.

Europe, which previously relied on Russia for about 40 percent of its gas, is facing an energy crisis following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine which drastically cut fuel supplies.