War in Ukraine: sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, interview with Putin, Russia ready to attack… update on the situation

Le Nord Stream 2 en mer Baltique le 27 décembre 2022. MAXPPP – DANISH DEFENCE

Tous les jours, Midi Libre fait le point sur la situation en Ukraine. Ce mercredi 7 février 2024, découvrez les dernières actualités autour de ce conflit.

Sweden ends investigation into Nord Stream gas pipeline sabotage

Swedish prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they were ending their investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines and passing the evidence discovered to German investigators. "The conclusion of the investigation is that Swedish jurisdiction does not apply and the investigation must therefore be closed", the Swedish Public Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

The Nord Stream pipelines, which transport Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, suffered a series of explosions in the Swedish and Danish economic zones in September 2022, releasing large quantities of methane into the air. Swedish investigators confirmed that traces of explosives found at the scene conclusively showed that sabotage had taken place.

Sweden, Denmark and Germany launched separate investigations into the explosions, with each country closely monitoring the information. The Danish and German investigations are still ongoing. "As part of this legal cooperation, we were able to hand over documents that can be used as evidence in the German investigation" , said the Swedish Public Prosecutor's Office.

After an extensive investigation, Swedish prosecutors concluded that there was no indication that Sweden or Swedish citizens were involved in the attack that left location "in international waters"."Given the current situation, we can state that Swedish jurisdiction does not apply", Attorney General Mats Ljungqvist said in a statement.

Russia has blamed the United States, Britain and Ukraine for the explosions that have largely cut it off from the lucrative European market. These countries have denied any involvement. If no conclusive evidence is found by any of the remaining investigations, the mystery behind one of the most serious acts of infrastructure sabotage important aspects of modern history could remain intact.

Who is Tucker Carlson, the journalist who will interview Vladimir Putin ?

While Vladimir Putin had not given an interview to foreign journalists since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Tucker Carlson, very controversial American presenter , announced this Tuesday, February 6 in an X-rated video shot from Moscow that he would soon interview the Russian president. However, the journalist did not provide further information regarding the date of this interview.

Several Telegram channels have already been spreading rumors in recent days about the presence of Tucker Carlson in the Russian capital. Russian state media have also widely covered the presenter's visit, by publishing in particular photos of him at the airport and at the famous Bolshoi Theater, indicates TF1.

Known for his numerous criticisms of American aid to Ukraine, he is also very close to Donald Trump. "Most Americans are uninformed, they have no idea what is happening in the region, here in Russia or 600 miles away in Ukraine. They should know this though, because they pay a large part of it. Nobody told the truth", he judged in this four-minute video .

"There are obviously risks in conducting an interview like this. So we thought about it carefully for several months", adds the presenter. "We are not here because we love Vladimir Poutine. We are here because we love the United States.", he concluded.

The worrying strategies that Russia could implement against Europe

The report from Danish military intelligence is quite alarming. He notes that Russia is preparing to challenge the countries belonging to NATO.

Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen even announced it in front of his parliament, warning on this subject. Vladimir Putin is "very likely" to use military force in 2024. After the concerns of several countries like Germany, Norway, Romania or even Sweden, Denmark does not take the matter lightly.

But Russia cannot attack European states head-on in this way, particularly those belonging to NATO – as it was able to do with Ukraine. According to the information collected and analyzed, Russia would rather be planning a kind of pressure on the countries. With one objective, to weaken the NATO States and their relations between them, as reported by Blick.