Emphasizing That Russia Has Nothing To Do With Damage to Pipes and Cables in the Baltic Sea, Kremlin: Any Threat is Unacceptable

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. (Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Executive Office of Russia)

JAKARTA - The Kremlin reiterated on Monday that Russia had nothing to do with the damage to the gas pipeline and cable network that runs between two NATO members, Finland and Estonia, calling any threats against it unacceptable.

The assertion was made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, after the President of Latvia, a NATO member, Edgars Rinkevics, said in a television interview last week that the defense pact should close the Baltic Sea to ships, if Russia is proven responsible for damage to the Balticconnector pipeline and telecommunications cable on October 8.

"Every threat must be taken seriously, no matter from whom it comes. Any threat against the Russian Federation is unacceptable," said Peskov, quoted by Reuters, October 24.

"I repeat once again, Russia has nothing to do with this (incident)," he stressed.

On this occasion, Peskov said he wanted to ask President Rinkevics what needs to be done after the investigation into the explosion that occurred on the Nord Stream gas pipeline network, also in the Baltic Sea, was completed.

Meanwhile, Finnish investigators said the damage may have been an act of sabotage, although they have not concluded whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.

Finland said its investigation is currently focused on the role of the Chinese-owned New Polar Bear container ship.

It is known that the Balticconnector stretches between Inkoo in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia across the Gulf of Finland, a part of the Baltic Sea that stretches eastward into Russian waters and ends at the port of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg.

Telecom pipes and cables run in parallel at a “significant” distance from each other, according to the cable operator, Elisa.

Both suffered damage "around the same time" on Sunday morning, Finnish investigators said, with the pipe break believed to be in Finnish waters while the cable break occurred in Estonian waters.

Balticconnector itself is jointly operated by Estonian electricity and gas system operator Elering with Finnish gas transmission system operator Gasgrid, which each own half of the pipeline.

The operator said in a statement that planning and implementation of the pipeline repairs would take at least five months, while gas transfers were unlikely to resume before April.