Leading populist lawmakers in Germany have demanded consequences for Kyiv over Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines. The calls come after reports that German authorities issued an arrest warrant against a Ukrainian citizen for alleged involvement in the sabotage against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, owned jointly by Russia and Germany.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially approved the plot to attack the pipelines but ordered it to be scrapped after the CIA got wind of the plan. However, according to the paper, Zelensky’s then-commander-in-chief, Valeriy Zaluzhniy, continued on with the plan anyway.
This has led to growing calls for Berlin to punish Kyiv, including suggestions that Ukraine should pay reparations to Germany and that any aid payments made by German taxpayers should be stopped. The demands have not only come from the right but also from left-wing populist members of parliament in Berlin who are calling for stern repercussions against Kyiv if it is found to be involved in the sabotage.
These lawmakers are also calling for the formation of a committee in the Bundestag to investigate the German government’s role during the attack and whether there was any advance knowledge of the plot. They argue that this would constitute a scandal of the century in German politics if it were discovered that German authorities knew about the attack plan in advance.
Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security has denied any involvement in the attack on Nord Stream, stating that versions in the media about alleged Ukrainian involvement are based on dubious anonymous sources and are unrealistic from a technical standpoint. The state media organization claims that Russia is better positioned to launch such an attack and accuses reports indicating Ukrainian involvement of being “synchronised with attempts to weaken international support for our country.