China has called on the United Nations to take an active role in safeguarding the security of cross-border infrastructure, citing evidence that the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines was “intentional”. Speaking at a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said that the UN is the most authoritative and representative international institution and that it can play an active and constructive role in conducting international investigations.
Zhang called for an objective, impartial, and professional investigation into the matter, saying that it is closely related to the security of global transnational infrastructure and the interests and concerns of every country. He added that the deliberate sabotage of transnational infrastructure is malicious and sends the wrong signal that those who intend to do it can get away with it.
American economist Jeffrey Sachs and former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Raymond McGovern also briefed the Security Council at Tuesday’s meeting. Sachs said that only a handful of state-level actors had both the technical capacity and access to the Baltic Sea to carry out an action like the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, and he excluded Russia from the list. He cited a report by The Washington Post that revealed that NATO intelligence agencies have concluded that there is no evidence that Russia carried out the attack.
McGovern cited investigative reporter Seymour Hersh’s work on the issue, saying that Hersh attracts whistleblowers because of his perfect record of protecting their identities and accurately publishing what they reveal. Zhang said that the two speakers had reported important information and sound analysis and called for convincing explanations from relevant parties.
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