Russia rebukes Germany, Denmark, Sweden for not including it in Nord Stream probe

LONDON (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday it had summoned diplomats from Germany, Denmark and Sweden to complain that representatives from Moscow and Gazprom had not been invited to join an investigation into ruptures of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

“Russia will obviously not recognise the pseudo-results of such an investigation unless Russian experts are involved,” the foreign ministry said.

The cause of the ruptures in the Nord Stream pipelines, which run under the Baltic Sea, remains unclear, but European Union countries have pointed to sabotage.

Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said it had not received any summons on Thursday, adding in an email that diplomats in Moscow were last week given a copy of a letter to Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, demanding Russia be part of the probe.

Sweden has rejected the calls, denying Russian authorities to be part of the investigation or to share any findings before it is completed.

The Danish Foreign Ministry said “the Russian wish to participate in the investigation of the Nord Stream leaks has been brought up through diplomatic channels in Moscow and Copenhagen.”

(Reporting by Reuters, additional reporting by Johan Ahlander in Stockholm and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Alexander Smith)