If evidence suggests the Kremlin is responsible for the damage to the Balticonnector connecting Finland and Estonia, Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkevics has suggested that NATO should consider halting Russian shipping in the Baltic Sea. “The discussion should be about how we can close the Baltic Sea in order to protect our critical infrastructure,” he said. Rinkevics believes NATO has the ability to stop shipping in the Baltic, potentially impacting Russian trade to St. Petersburg.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has dispatched mine hunters, patrol aircraft, and early warning planes to safeguard underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Finnish authorities have completed a crime scene investigation at the damaged subsea gas pipeline, which began leaking on October 8. Police report multiple dives to the damaged object at dozens of meters depth, and plans to examine the surrounding area. Samples collected from the seabed around the broken segment will undergo forensic analysis. The investigators believe the pipeline rupture was likely a deliberate act of force rather than an explosion.
Putin has denied that the Kremlin was involved in the pipeline rupture to the pipeline.
CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE NEWS
Latvia Requests NATO Halt Russian Shipping
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