A pro-Ukrainian group was behind last year’s attacks on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines according to intelligence reviewed by US officials, the New York Times has reported.
But there was no evidence Kyiv’s government was involved in the alleged act of sabotage, according to the newspaper.
The undersea explosions, seven months into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, on pipelines between Russia and Germany occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark in the Baltic Sea.
Both countries have concluded the blasts were deliberate, but have not said who might be responsible.
Tuesday’s NYT report cited US officials as saying there was no evidence President Volodymyr Zelensky or his top aides were involved or that the perpetrators were acting on the orders of Ukrainian government officials.
“Without a doubt, Ukraine is absolutely not involved in the excesses on the pipelines,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to Mr Zelensky, said in a statement.
“It does not make the slightest bit of sense.”
The United States and Nato have called the September 26 attacks “an act of sabotage”, while Russia has blamed the West and called for an independent probe. Neither has provided evidence.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reports on the attacks were an effort to divert attention.
“Obviously, the authors of the attack want to divert attention. Obviously, this is a coordinated stuffing in the media,” he told the state RIA news agency on Wednesday.
“How can American officials assume anything without an investigation?”
Peskov also said that Nord Stream shareholder countries should insist on an urgent, transparent investigation.
“We are still not allowed in the investigation. Only a few days ago we received notes about this from the Danes and Swedes,” Peskov said.
“This is not just strange. It smells like a monstrous crime.”
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius also warned against premature accusations on Wednesday, following the NYT report.
“It may just as well have been a false flag operation staged to blame Ukraine, an option brought up in the media reports as well,” Mr Pistorius told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk in an interview.
“The likelihood for one or the other is equally high,” he added.
News agent Reuters could not independently verify the NYT report.
