Medvedev says Russia free to destroy enemies’ undersea communications cables

ISTANBUL

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday said Moscow no longer has any “moral” restrictions in destroying undersea communications cables of its enemies.

“If we proceed from the proven complicity of Western countries in undermining the Nord Stream, then we have no, even moral, restrictions left to refrain from destroying the cable communications of our enemies, laid along the ocean floor,” Medvedev said on Telegram.

Underwater explosions targeted the Nord Stream 1 and the newly built Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which delivered Russian natural gas to Germany and the European region through the Baltic Sea, last September.

Moscow accuses the West, particularly the US, of being directly involved in the blasts. It called for a UN-led international investigation into the likely sabotage, but the request was rejected.

US media reports have suggested that Washington was aware of a Ukrainian plot to blow up the gas pipelines, but Kyiv has denied any involvement.

Meanwhile, Andrey Ledenev, the minister-counselor at the Russian Embassy in the US, on Wednesday questioned the reasoning behind the West's refusal to launch a "transparent and objective international investigation" on the Nord Stream blasts, and said the US role in the incident should also be "clarified."

ISTANBUL

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday said Moscow no longer has any “moral” restrictions in destroying undersea communications cables of its enemies.

Moscow accuses the West, particularly the US, of being directly involved in the blasts. It called for a UN-led international investigation into the likely sabotage, but the request was rejected.

US media reports have suggested that Washington was aware of a Ukrainian plot to blow up the gas pipelines, but Kyiv has denied any involvement.