The Nord Stream pipelines were a “legitimate target” for Ukraine’s armed forces to sabotage or strike, the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel has claimed.
Speaking to local media, Pavel said he had no evidence to suggest that Ukraine was behind the attack on the partly German-owned gas transit system, but that if Kyiv were indeed behind the strike, it was most likely justified.
“When an armed conflict is waged, it is waged not only against military objectives but also against objectives of a strategic nature. And pipelines are a strategic target,” he said on August 21.
“If the attack was aimed at cutting off gas and oil supplies to Europe and money back to Russia, then — and I say conditional on purpose — that would be a legitimate target. But I don’t have that information.”
That provoked angry reactions from Russia, with one spokeswoman for the country’s foreign ministry comparing Pavel’s claim to those made by terrorists.
“This is too much even for such a flamboyant outcast,” a social media post by ministry official Maria Zakharova translated by Russia’s TASS newswire service read.
“Notably, such ideas have previously been expressed only by members of outlawed international terrorist cells,” she added, before comparing the President’s comments to those made by spokesmen for Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Polish PM Donald Tusk has ordered “all initiators and patrons” of the Nord Stream pipelines to “keep quiet” following reports that Ukraine might have been behind the 2022 attack on the infrastructure and that Poland may have been in on the scheme. https://t.co/4y4V5mhsRv
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 19, 2024
