NATO officials wanted to save Ukraine from a public quarrel with Germany, the source said.
Western intelligence reported that they knew the name of a Ukrainian citizen – a private sponsor who allegedly financed the undermining of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. It was deliberately decided not to disclose it in order to protect Ukraine.
This was reported on Wednesday by the British edition of The Times.
The source reports that a week after the Nord Stream explosions, employees of one of the Scandinavian delegations in Brussels received intelligence that it was private individuals from Ukraine, and not citizens of the United States, Russia or Poland, who were behind the explosions. Diplomats were told that this information would not be made public.
According to the publication, the name of the private sponsor of the sabotage, a Ukrainian who is not named, is not associated with the government of President Zelensky.
Here is how the publication explains why they decided to hide the name of the Ukrainian sponsor:
“NATO wanted to save Ukraine from a public quarrel with Germany, which was playing for time with the delivery of vital military assistance, including Leopard 2 tanks and IRIS-T air defense systems. This is quite fair – they apparently knew who was responsible before the presidential administration or ministries of defense in Kiev, who were stunned by the report and stubbornly deny involvement.
According to the source, the “influential figure” who allegedly financed the operation was not going to strengthen the positions of opponents on the supply of weapons by Germany, who put pressure on the government of Olaf Scholz.
The Times writes that the complex operation involved bringing in a yacht, elite divers, forged passports, and purchasing shaped-charge explosives that are only available to the gas and oil industry under a special license and for a lot of money.
At the same time, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov denied the involvement of an allegedly “pro-Ukrainian group” in blowing up gas pipelines. He called strange the publication of another Western publication, the New York Times, about the involvement of a “pro-Ukrainian group” in undermining the Nord Streams.
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