The Federation Council called for the development of an international convention to protect pipelines

The natural legal outcome of the explosions of the Nord Stream gas pipelines should be the development of an international convention on the protection of underwater pipelines, declared Vice Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev on his Telegram channel. Under this convention, damage to pipelines should be made a punishable crime, he said.

“From my point of view, the logical outcome of what happened (and regardless of whether it is possible to achieve an international investigation) should be the development and adoption of an international convention for the protection of underwater pipelines. At present, there is no such convention, which means that there is a gap in international law that needs to be filled as soon as possible, ”wrote the Vice Speaker of the Federation Council.

Kosachev listed the issues that should be reflected in the document. First, it is necessary to establish “zones of responsibility” of the states through whose territories and maritime spaces the pipeline route passes. The senator also suggested making damage to pipelines a punishable offense under the convention. In addition, as Kosachev notes, it is necessary to provide for the rules on the procedure for the creation and functioning of an international commission of inquiry in the event that such a crime has been committed.

The Nord Stream incident occurred on the night of September 26, 2022. Pressure dropped in both pipelines. Two subsequently discovered leaks were in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Sweden, and two more were in the Danish EEZ. Initially, Germany, Sweden and Denmark agreed to conduct a joint investigation, but this idea was later abandoned. In October 2022, Sweden announced the completion of the investigation, stating “increasing suspicions of gross sabotage”, but those responsible for what happened were not named.

On February 8, American journalist Seymour Hersh published an investigation into the Nord Stream incident, in which he accused the United States and Norway of being involved in the bombing. The White House and the European Commission called this information unreliable. The Kremlin announced the unwillingness of the West to transparently investigate the Nord Stream case.

In March, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen announced that Copenhagen would not give Moscow permission to participate in the Nord Stream investigation. According to him, the investigations of Denmark, Sweden and Germany can be trusted, because in these countries “the rule of law reigns.”

Copenhagen is not interested in conducting an investigation that would identify customers and perpetrators of sabotage on gas pipelines, but Denmark fail “sweep this issue under the carpet,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.