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Paris
A day after Russia accused British navy personnel of being responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines last month, NATO ally France has jumped in to UK's defence.
Reportedly, France's foreign ministry deputy spokesperson in a statement said the accusations are part of Moscow's strategy "to turn attention away from its sole responsibility in the war of aggression that it is conducting against Ukraine."
As reported by WION, the Russian defence ministry on Saturday released a statement wherein for the first time since the explosions took place, it outrightly called out a nation.
"According to available information, representatives of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year â blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines," read the statement.
Read more: Russia accuses British navy of blowing up Nord Stream pipelines, UK slams claim
No sooner did Moscow release the statement, the UK also reacted and released a rather stern response.
"To detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale," tweeted the UK defence ministry.
"This invented story says more about arguments going on inside the Russian government than it does about the West," it added.
The two explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines were followed by unexplained gas leaks. Suspicious incidents were reported in the Baltic Sea off the Danish island of Bornholm.
Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have claimed that those were pre-meditated attacks to damage the pipeline.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called it a ploy by the West after its sanctions did not affect Moscow.
"Sanctions are not enough for the West, they have switched to sabotage. Unbelievable, but it is a fact!," Putin had said in a live speech.
(With inputs from agencies)
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