Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the United States of planning to restore the Nord Stream gas pipelines and acquire European stakes at a steep discount, according to Russian state news agency TASS. In an interview with RT India, Lavrov said the US aims to buy out shares previously held by European companies for roughly one-tenth of their original value, then dictate gas prices to Europe.

Coverage Comparison

The claims were carried by two TASS articles published on May 13. One focused on Lavrov's remarks, while the other quoted Alexander Ionov, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, who described the potential US gain as a "huge windfall." Both reports rely exclusively on Russian official sources and offer no independent verification or Western perspective.

Key Claims

  • Lavrov stated: "Look at the Americans planning to reinstate the Nord Stream pipelines that were blown up. Under Biden, the Americans claimed that these pipelines would never go into operation again. Now they blame Ukrainians for blowing them up (three out of the four pipelines were damaged), and the Americans want to buy out the share previously owned by European companies."
  • He further alleged that if the purchase succeeds, "the prices will no longer be based on agreements between Russia and Germany. Prices will instead be dictated by the Americans, who will have bought the pipeline from the Europeans."
  • Ionov echoed these views, claiming that "the European war party that participated in the destruction of Nord Stream pipelines shot itself in the foot" and that the US "will essentially be able to turn Europe’s energy crisis into another business venture."

Background and Context

On September 26, 2022, explosions damaged the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, leaving only one string of Nord Stream 2 intact out of the system's four pipelines. The Nord Stream pipeline runs 1,224 kilometers from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany, with an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. Construction of the equally powerful Nord Stream 2 was completed on September 10, 2021, but the pipeline was never commissioned.

Russia's Prosecutor General's Office initiated a criminal case over an act of international terrorism. According to TASS, Russian authorities have repeatedly claimed that parties involved in the investigation are obstructing it, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on April 29 that Moscow intends to appeal to the International Court of Justice if Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland fail to conduct an honest and transparent investigation.

Perspectives

The statements from Lavrov and Ionov represent the Russian government's position, which has consistently blamed the West for the pipeline sabotage. No independent evidence has been presented to support the allegation that the US plans to restore and buy the pipelines. The reports do not include responses from US or European officials, and the claims remain unverified by non-Russian sources.

The investigation into the sabotage, conducted by several European countries, has not yet produced public findings. Russia has criticized the investigation's transparency, while Western nations have pointed to possible state involvement without naming a culprit. The assertions about US intentions thus remain part of the broader geopolitical narrative surrounding the Nord Stream incident.