Zakharova pointed to US role in AFU attack on Turkish Stream station
Ukraine has attacked the compressor station of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline in Krasnodar Region following a tip-off from the USA. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said this on January 16 when answering Izvestiya's question at a briefing.
"Washington and Kiev are acting in tandem and doing everything to stop the supply of stable, reasonably priced, high-quality Russian gas to Europe and to clear the market for expensive American liquefied natural gas. <...> There are reasons to believe that the terrorist attack on the compressor station <...> was carried out on Washington's tip-off," she said in response to a related question.
According to her, this fits into the logic of official statements by the White House and the US leadership, which for years have noted that the US does not need Russian gas in Europe.
"The strikes (by Kiev. - Ed.) are carried out according to those data, according to those coordinates, which are presented exactly by the American relevant services," Zakharova noted.
On January 11, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukraine tried to attack with nine drones the Russkaya compressor station in the Krasnodar region, through which gas is supplied by the Turkish Stream. The agency stressed that Russian air defense forces shot down all the drones. There was no disruption of pumping.
Later, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar noted that there were no violations in gas supplies after the attack of the Ukrainian army.
On January 15, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the destruction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline was part of the US plans. According to him, following Nord Stream, they are trying to "disable" this gas pipeline as well.
Turkish political analyst Mehmet Perinçek told Izvestia that the AFU attack on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline station was expected, as Kiev and Washington openly announced plans to prevent its operation.
