The UN Security Council rejected a joint initiative of Russia and China on the explosions at Nord Stream

According to the Associated Press, Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the draft resolution. Abstaining were the USA, France, Great Britain, Albania, Gabon, Ghana, Malta, Mozambique, UAE, Switzerland, Ecuador and Japan. There are no votes against. To be adopted, the resolution had to get 9 votes out of 15.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Belarus, Venezuela, the DPRK, Nicaragua, Syria and Eritrea, TASS notes. However, they are not members of the UN Security Council and did not participate in the vote.

The text of the draft resolution proposed instructing UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to create an international independent commission "to conduct a comprehensive, transparent and impartial investigation of all aspects of the act of sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines, including to identify the perpetrators, sponsors, organizers of the sabotage and their accomplices".

US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood stressed that Sweden, Denmark and Germany undertook to identify specific criminals who committed sabotage on Nord Stream from the very beginning, the investigation is being conducted in a "comprehensive, transparent, impartial manner" and they should not be hindered.

As AP reminds, leading American and German media previously published articles with reference to officials in the United States, who said that there is evidence that Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may be responsible for the bombings. Kiev denies its involvement in the diversions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed as "complete nonsense" the accusations that Ukrainians could be behind the explosions, and pointed to the United States.