Gas bubbles from the Nord Stream 2 leak reaching surface of the Baltic Sea in the area shows disturbance of well over one kilometre diameter near Bornholm, Denmark, September 27, 2022. Danish Defence Command/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
(Reuters) - A "transparent and objective" international investigation in the blasts at the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines is needed, a high-ranking Russian diplomat to the United States said early on Wednesday.
Commenting on reports that the U.S. reportedly warned Ukraine not to attack the pipelines under the Baltic Sea, Andrey Ledenev, minister-counsellor at the embassy, said the role of the United States in the blasts should also be "clarified".
"It would be useful to think about the reasons for the stubborn unwillingness of the collective West to launch a transparent and objective international investigation under the auspices of the U.N. Security Council in the terrorist attacks in the Baltic Sea," Ledenev was quoted as saying in a post on the embassy's Telegram messaging channel.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
