Russia has failed to convince the UN Security Council to demand an independent investigation into the September bombings that cut the Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany, sending gas to the Baltic Sea.
Only Russia, China and Brazil on Monday voted in favor of the text drafted by Russia, while 12 other council members abstained. A resolution requires at least nine votes in favor and neither Russia, China, France, the United States or the United Kingdom veto it.
Russia proposed the resolution last month, just days before the first anniversary of its invasion of 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 pipeline explosions occurred 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 notified.
They said in a joint letter to the Security Council that the damage was caused by “strong explosions due to acts 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 it is determined whether action is needed at the United Nations.
Russia complained that it was not informed of the ongoing national investigations. Moscow claimed, without providing evidence, that the West was behind the bombings.
The United States was not involved in any way. said US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood.
He accused Russia of trying to “discredit the work of the ongoing national investigations and undermine any conclusions it reaches that do not agree with Russia’s predetermined political narrative.”
