New Delhi

European leaders have launched an investigation into the explosions near the Nord Stream pipelines which are said to have resulted in major leaks. They believed that sabotage was the reason behind the leaks as the pipelines under the Baltic Sea transporting natural gas from Russia to Europe were majorly impacted. 

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While Nord Stream 1 reported leaks, the Nord Stream 2 experienced a sudden drop in pressure overnight. According to the German geological research center GFZ, the leaks took place near the Danish island of Bornholm and the seismograph recorded major spikes twice on Tuesday. 

“There are two leaks on Nord Stream 1 – one in Swedish economic zone and one in Danish economic zone. They are very near each other,” Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA)  told Reuters. 

Also read | Nord Stream leak LIVE | As it happened

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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was quick to react to the situation as he described the Nord Stream leaks as “deliberate acts” and added, “We are not talking about an accident.” 

European commission president Ursula Von der Leyen also echoed similar sentiments. 

“Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest possible response,” Von der Leyen told reporters. 

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Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki linked the leaks to the ongoing Ukraine crisis and told The Guardian that this â€œprobably marks the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine”. 

Also read | Kremlin announces huge majorities have voted in favour of joining Russia

With the conflict in Ukraine showing no signs of ending, fingers have been pointed toward Russia for trying to weaponise the energy supply once again by causing disruption to the pipelines. 

Russia did not react to the accusations as Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that the event was â€œvery concerning” and added that “no option can be ruled out right now”. 

“This is very concerning news. Indeed, we are talking about some damage of an unclear nature to the pipeline in Denmark’s economic zone,” he said in the official briefing.  

Russia has halted flows on the 1,224-kilometre (760-mile) Nord Stream 1 pipeline during the war, while Germany prevented them from ever starting in the parallel Nord Stream 2.