Kremlin Dismisses ‘Stupid’ Claims Russia Attacked Nord Stream

The Kremlin on Wednesday said claims that Russia was somehow behind a possible attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines were stupid, adding that Moscow saw a sharp increase in the profits of U.S. companies supplying gas to Europe.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily conference call with reporters that the incident needed to be investigated and the timings for the repair of the damaged pipelines were not clear.

Asked about claims Russia might somehow be behind the possible attack, Peskov said, “That’s quite predictable and also predictably stupid.”

“This is a big problem for us because, firstly, both lines of Nord Stream 2 are filled with gas – the entire system is ready to pump gas and the gas is very expensive… Now the gas is flying off into the air.”

“Before making any claims, we should wait for an investigation into these ruptures, whether there was an explosion or not,” Peskov said. Information on the incident could be expected from Denmark and Sweden, he said.