The Nord Stream Incident: Open Briefing: What's in Blue: Security Council Report

Tomorrow morning (October 4), the Security Council will meet for an open meeting under the agenda item “Threats to international peace and security.” Russia requested the meeting to mark the two-year anniversary of the September 26, 2022 explosions that caused material damage to the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. What is atypical for a council meeting is that no briefers are expected.

background

Nord Stream is a series of offshore natural gas pipelines, consisting of Nord Stream 1 (NS1) and Nord Stream 2 (NS2), running from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. Between September 26 and 29, 2022, four leaks were discovered in NS1 and NS2, near the island of Bornholm in Denmark. The leaks occurred in international waters within the economic zones of Denmark and Sweden. After the incident, Danish, German and Swedish officials launched separate investigations into the leaks. Russia expressed interest in joining the investigation, citing concerns that the leaks may have been a deliberate act of terrorism. (You can find background information in our communication dated November 7, 2023 What's in blue? Story.)

In a letter to the Council dated February 21, 2023, Denmark, Germany and Sweden noted that investigations showed that “strong explosions due to sabotage” had caused the damage to the pipelines. On November 18, 2022, Swedish authorities reported that “foreign items” containing “explosive residue” were found near the site. In February, the Danish and Swedish authorities informed the Council that they had closed their respective investigations because there were insufficient grounds to initiate criminal proceedings.

According to media reports, in June German authorities issued an arrest warrant for Volodymyr Zhuravlev, a Ukrainian diving instructor suspected of involvement in the Nord Stream explosions and believed to be living in Poland. Zhuravlev reportedly evaded arrest by crossing the border into Ukraine. German investigators then accused Poland of failing to implement arrest and search warrants and claimed it had hampered the investigation. Poland has apparently rejected such allegations. At a public event on September 14 in Prenzlau, Germany, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reportedly described the explosions as a “terrorist act.”

In August the Wall Street JournalCiting unnamed sources, it published an article claiming that the Nord Stream explosions were ordered by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, then commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and carried out by a team of Ukrainian citizens. Zaluzhnyi currently serves as Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom. Referring to this article, Russia argued in a letter to the Security Council on August 16 that “media reports leave no doubt that…” [German] Authorities…have some information that they would like to share with the international community.” In response, Denmark, Germany and Sweden sent a letter to the Council on September 9, stressing: “[m]edia reports do not replace investigations that require confidentiality.” The letter also states that Germany’s investigations are ongoing and will continue to be conducted “impartially, independently and in accordance with the basic principles of the rule of law.”

In March, the Russian Foreign Ministry sent verbal notes to the Moscow embassies of Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland alleging non-compliance with their obligations under the 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings the financing of terrorism. Russia has now filed pre-trial lawsuits against the four countries. The dispute is apparently in the pre-trial mediation stage. However, if this process does not resolve the issue, Moscow has signaled its intention to appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Security Council has addressed the Nord Stream issue several times since the incident in September 2022. Russia convened a Security Council briefing for the first time on September 30, 2022, at which Deputy Secretary-General for Economic Development at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Navid Hanif, noted that the United Nations was “not in a position to do anything to verify or confirm it”. the reported details relating to the incident”.

On March 27, 2023, the Council voted on a draft resolution on the Nord Stream incident. The draft text, drawn up by Russia and co-sponsored by several UN member states, condemned the “act of sabotage” on NS1 and NS2 and called on the Secretary-General to establish an international, independent commission to investigate the incident. The draft resolution was not adopted as it did not receive the necessary support, receiving three votes in favor (Brazil, China and Russia) and twelve abstentions. (Background information can be found in our brochure dated March 26th What's in blue? Story.)

Since then, Russia has convened eight Council meetings to discuss the Nord Stream incident: four under “other business”, three briefings and one meeting under closed consultations. After the September 26, 2023 briefing, Russia distributed a draft presidential statement. However, after several weeks of difficult negotiations, Russia withdrew the draft text from consideration. In April, Russia submitted another draft presidential statement, but again failed to reach consensus among Council members. On August 30, Russia distributed a new draft presidential statement to Council members. Negotiations on this draft text are ongoing.

The meeting tomorrow

At tomorrow's meeting, Russia is expected to criticize what it sees as the German authorities' unwillingness to share information about their investigation. During a press conference on September 28, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Berlin of withholding information from the Security Council. She further claimed that “the United States and its partners” blocked the adoption of the draft presidential declaration proposed by Russia in October 2023.

It appears that negotiations over Russia's latest proposed presidential declaration were challenging. While some members expressed support for the initiative, several council members expressed concerns about the text, arguing that it could undermine Germany's ongoing national investigation. Members are currently discussing the fourth draft of the text.

Tomorrow, council members are likely to emphasize the need to protect critical civilian infrastructure, while some emphasize the need to ensure accountability for the Nord Stream incident. At the Council's last briefing on the issue on April 26, China called for a United Nations-led international investigation to be launched. Algeria pointed to its three gas pipelines to Europe and expressed support for the ongoing German investigations and “for all future international efforts, in particular under the auspices of…” [UN]“.

While Russia may argue that the ongoing German investigation does not diminish the need for an impartial international investigation into the incident, several members are expected to emphasize the importance of the Council avoiding actions that politicize the issue, harming national procedures or delegitimize their results.

Some Council members – including the P3 (France, UK and US) – may criticize Russia for calling tomorrow's meeting. At the April 26 briefing, the US accused Russia of using these meetings “to spread disinformation, spread slander and discredit ongoing national investigations.” The U.S. also highlighted what it called a double standard, noting that while Russia called for an international investigation into the Nord Stream incident, Russia vetoed a March 28 draft resolution that undermined the mandate of the panel of experts in support of the Democrats People's Party of 1718 would have extended the Sanctions Committee of the Republic of Korea (DPRK). Similarly, the United Kingdom said that “it is hypocritical of Russia to spend so much time drawing the Security Council's attention to a single act of sabotage on national infrastructure, while at the same time consciously and systematically carrying out its own attacks on the national infrastructure.” infrastructure in Ukraine.” “.

Tags: Insights into Europe, Ukraine