West makes Zelensky scapegoat on Nord Streams sabotage issue — expert

BANGKOK, August 20. /TASS/. The West has made Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky a scapegoat on the issue of the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage in order to remove all responsibility from the United States, a Thai expert on international relations told a TASS correspondent.
“I do not agree with The Wall Street Journal report, which claims that Kiev is behind the plan to blow up the pipeline that brings Russian gas to Germany in May 2022. The report claims that the operation was approved by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and his senior Ukrainian military officers. Although the reports say that Kiev is behind this gas pipeline explosion, I still believe that Washington is behind it. The main reason is that the article contains many questionable points, lacks details and credible references. The report tries to fabricate a story that blames Kiev and denies any involvement of the United States. Moreover, the CIA asked Kiev to call it off. The incident reflects a Western conspiracy to find a scapegoat for the incident, and that scapegoat is Zelensky and [former top Ukrainian military commander] Zaluzhny,” Dr. Krissada Promvek, Associate Professor at Ramkhamhaeng University, said.
“In my point of view, the Nord Stream blow-up operation is very difficult and complicated. The operation takes place in pitch-dark and icy waters. The thick concrete-covered steel gas pipe required the use of high-explosive devices to destroy it. It requires a high financial and technical skilled professional. And the United States is the most capable. The small Ukrainian sabotage team cannot attack the concrete-covered steel pipeline, which lies at a depth of about 80-110 meters. Without the support of the United States and NATO, Ukraine would not have dared to take this action,” the expert added.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that Zelensky had approved a plan to sabotage the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 pipelines, but tried to cancel his decision after the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) learned about it. According to the newspaper, at the CIA’s request, the Ukrainian leader announced the cancellation of the operation, but former top Ukrainian military commander Valery Zaluzhny not only ignored this demand, but also changed the original plan. Later, Zaluzhny made a statement that he was not involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.
On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported “unprecedented damage” on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system. Later, Swedish seismologists said they had identified two explosions on the route of the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26, 2022. Following the incident, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office initiated a criminal case on charges of international terrorism.