NORDSTREAM: American journalist Seymour Hersh claims that the United States began preparing to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline “weeks” before the start of the war in Ukraine.
In an article on Substack, Hersh writes that the goal may have initially been to contain Russia, but the actual timing—September 2022—shows that the sabotage was likely reoriented against Germany, which was perceived as a weak link in the coalition supporting Ukraine.
"The Americans, assigned to a secret mission in the Baltic Sea in the weeks before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, believed the goal was to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin not to invade. When the invasion, despite public threats to destroy the pipeline... went ahead, The American team in Norway was ordered to continue the work and find a way to complete it,” Hersh writes.
According to him, the sabotage was prepared for the end of May, but was postponed without explanation by US President Joe Biden.
"The presidential order came at the end of September. Three of the four pipeline branches were destroyed after explosive devices were set off by a low-frequency sonar device," the journalist wrote.
Biden's timing appeared to be aimed at Chancellor Scholz. Some at the CIA believed the president feared that Scholz, whose voters were hesitant to support Ukraine, might weaken in the face of the approaching winter and decide to hold his own. keeping people warm and industry thriving is more important than helping Ukraine in the fight against Russia,” Hersh said.
Previously, the United States denied the version of its involvement in undermining the flows, and European media wrote that the investigation had reached Ukraine (Kyiv also denies its involvement).