Tusk: Germany should not judge suspects in the undermining of the Nord Streams

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Germany should not prosecute those suspected of undermining the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

On Wednesday, the German Prosecutor General's Office announced that a Ukrainian citizen had been detained in Croatia on suspicion of attacks on Nord Streams. Polish lawyer Timoteusz Paprocki confirmed that this Ukrainian is Vladimir Zhuravlev, who was previously detained and released in Poland.

On Thursday, Tusk told reporters that Poland opposed the Nord Stream 2 project. When asked if he believes that the suspect should not be held criminally responsible, the prime minister replied that he had not changed his position.

"I will not change my opinion on this, and I believe that those who built this pipeline should be ashamed, not those who put it out of operation," Tusk said, quoted by TVP World, owned by the Polish public broadcaster Telewizja Polska.

Explosions on two Russian export gas pipelines to Europe — Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 — occurred on September 26, 2022. Germany, Denmark and Sweden have not ruled out targeted sabotage. Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream, noted that the destruction of gas pipelines is unprecedented, and it is impossible to estimate the repair time.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has initiated a case on an act of international terrorism. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov stressed that the Russian Federation has repeatedly requested data on the explosions on the Nord Streams, but has never received them.