New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Germany’s response to the explosion on Nord Stream gas pipelines showed the country is still “occupied” and unable to act independently even decades after it surrendered after World War II, news agency Reuters reported.
“The matter is that European politicians have said themselves publicly that after World War Two, Germany was never a fully sovereign state,” Putin, interviewed on Russian television, said.
"The Soviet Union at one point withdrew its forces and ended what amounted to an occupation of the country. But that, as is well known, was not the case with the Americans. They continue to occupy Germany,” Putin added.
Claiming that the incident of Nord Stream gas pipelines was carried out on a "state level", the Russian President said that suggestions that the blasts were carried out by an autonomous pro-Ukraine group are "complete nonsense".
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"One should always look for those who are interested. And who is interested? Theoretically, of course, the United States is interested. An explosion of this kind, of this power, at this depth, can only be carried out by specialists, and supported by the full power of the state, which has certain technologies," Putin said.
It is to be noted that the Nord Stream gas pipelines were intended to bring Russian gas to Germany, though since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine a year back, Berlin has taken steps to reduce its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.
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According to the report, the leaders in Berlin have been careful about apportioning blame for the explosions, and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said last week that the blasts could have been a "false-flag operation to blame Ukraine".