West rejects Putin’s claim it sabotaged Baltic gas pipelines

By JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of sabotaging the Russia-built gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea to Germany. Putin claimed that the West had turned from sanctions against Russia to “terror attacks,” sabotaging the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. The White House said Putin’s comments were outlandish and just an attempt to distract the world from his annexation on Friday of four parts of Ukraine. President Joe Biden said of Putin: “What he’s saying we know is not true.” The comments came ahead of an emergency meeting Friday at the U.N. Security Council in New York. Denmark and Sweden said the blasts, which set off huge methane leaks, probably were due to several hundred pounds of explosives.