There was no proof that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his high lieutenants have been concerned, or that the perpetrators have been appearing on the course of any Ukrainian authorities officers, the newspaper reported, citing U.S. officers.

Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the report, and U.S. officers didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Representatives for Kyiv and Moscow additionally couldn’t be instantly reached.

America and NATO have known as the September 2022 assaults on the pipelines that spewed fuel into the Baltic Sea “an act of sabotage,” whereas Moscow has blamed the West. Neither facet has supplied proof.

Constructed by Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom, the Nord Stream fuel pipelines join Russia and Germany. They’ve grow to be a flashpoint throughout Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Representatives for Gazprom additionally didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

The intelligence overview suggests those that carried out the assaults opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin “however doesn’t specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation,” the Instances wrote.

“U.S. officers declined to reveal the character of the intelligence, the way it was obtained or any particulars of the energy of the proof it incorporates. They’ve stated that there are not any agency conclusions about it,” it added, citing the unnamed officers.

“Officers who’ve reviewed the intelligence stated they believed the saboteurs have been most certainly Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some mixture of the 2. U.S. officers stated no American or British nationals have been concerned,” in accordance with the Instances report.

The European international locations the place the pipeline traveled are investigating, and the U.S. State Division has stated it’s not social gathering to the probe and is deferring to these nations.

Russia final month known as on the United Nations Safety Council to independently examine. Within the yr because the invasion, Europe has drastically lower its vitality imports from Russia. Moscow this week known as for all Nord Stream stakeholders to determine its destiny after three of the 4 pipelines have been destroyed within the assaults.

German vitality firm E.ON, one of many shareholders of the Nord Stream pipeline, declined to remark.