STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden won’t share findings of the investigation into the explosions of the Nord Stream gas pipelines with Russian authorities or Gazprom, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Monday.
A Swedish crime scene investigation of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe has found evidence of detonations and prosecutors suspect sabotage.
Last week Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin sent a letter to the Swedish government demanding that Russian authorities and Gazprom would be allowed to be involved in the investigation, which Sweden denied.
On Monday Andersson said Sweden won’t even share the findings of the explosions that took place in the Swedish economic zone, with Russian authorities.
“In Sweden, our preliminary investigations are confidential, and that, of course, also applies in this case,” she told reporters.
However, Andersson said Sweden had no power to stop Russian vessels from visiting the sites of the explosions now that the crime scene investigation was concluded.
“The Swedish economic zone is not a territory that Sweden disposes of. We have lifted the cordons now and then it is also possible for other ships to stay in the area, that is how the rules work,” she said
Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four leaks after the pipelines, which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea and have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis, were damaged last month.
Europe, which previously relied on Russia for about 40% of its gas, is facing an energy crisis in the aftermath of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine which has drastically cut supplies of the fuel.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; editing by David Evans)
