Questions remain about the September explosions that damaged gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany.
Russia has failed to persuade the UN Security Council to demand an independent investigation into the bombings in September that ruptured the Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany, sending gas into the Baltic Sea.
Only Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the text drafted by Russia on Monday, while the other 12 council members abstained. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no Russia, China, France, the United States or the United Kingdom vetoes it.
Russia proposed the resolution last month, just days before the one-year anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
“Without an objective and transparent international investigation, the truth about what happened will not be revealed,” Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, told the council before the vote.
The pipeline explosions occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. Sweden, Denmark and Germany said last month that their separate investigations were still ongoing and that Russia had been informed.
In a joint letter to the Security Council, they said the damage was caused by “strong explosions due to sabotage”. The United States and NATO also described the incident as an “act of sabotage.”
Most Security Council members who abstained on Monday said they did so because national investigations must be allowed to conclude before consideration is given to whether any action is needed at the United Nations.
Russia has complained that it was not informed of the ongoing national investigations. Moscow asserted, without providing evidence, that the West was behind the bombings.
The United States was not involved in any way. said Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood.
He accused Russia of trying to “discredit the work of the ongoing national investigations and damage any conclusions it reaches that do not agree with Russia’s predetermined political narrative.”
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