US officially speaks out, Finland does not rule out "state actors"

On October 12, Director of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service Antti Pelttari said that the country could not rule out the possibility that a "state actor" was involved in the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline and parallel telecommunications cable.

Trạm nén của đường ống dẫn khí đốt Balticconnector ở Inkoo, Phần Lan. (Nguồn: Reuters)

The Balticconnector gas pipeline compressor station in Inkoo, Finland. (Source: Reuters)

On the US side, on social network X, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Washington supports Finland and Estonia in conducting an investigation into the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline.

“We stand with our NATO allies Finland and Estonia as they investigate damage to infrastructure on the Baltic Sea floor and support their ongoing investigation to determine the cause,” Secretary Blinken wrote.

On October 8, Finland and Estonia jointly announced that they had temporarily suspended operations of the Balticconnector gas pipeline connecting the two countries, due to suspected leaks.

Finnish police have opened a criminal investigation into a possible sabotage incident on the Balticconnector gas pipeline across the Baltic Sea between the country and Estonia, which occurred over the weekend.

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBL) has also begun collecting evidence at the leak point on the Balticconnector pipeline connecting the two NATO member countries.

The NBL stressed that the purpose of the investigation is to determine whether the Balticconnector pipeline was damaged by sabotage and, if so, who was responsible. Finland has ruled out operational errors. Police in the country said the pipeline was damaged not by an explosion but by external mechanical force.

NATO and Russia have expressed concern over the incident. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would wait for more information on the details of the incident at the gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia.

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