MOSCOW, October 8 /TASS/. The Nord Stream gas pipeline incident primarily benefits the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.

"The answer to the question of who benefits from these developments is clear. First and foremost, it is the US and its suppliers of expensive LNG, who are interested in driving competitors from the European gas market. President Vladimir Putin in his September 30 address pointed to those behind this act of sabotage and openly named the Americans. ‘It's clear to everyone who benefits from this. And the one who benefits from it is the one who did it', he said."

"It is an unprecedented situation. Critical infrastructure suffered damage in the incident, as well as Russia's interests and the energy security of Europe," he noted. "It's now crucial to conduct an impartial and comprehensive investigation that will involve our country in order to establish the cause of the incident. Clearly, Russia and Germany are the most affected parties," Lavrov added.

"The decision by Sweden and Denmark to refuse to allow Russia and the gas pipeline operator to take part in an investigation into the act of sabotage is also worth mentioning as they did not object to a US statement about its readiness to join the process," the Russian foreign minister stressed.

On September 27, the Nord Stream AG company reported that three threads of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 offshore gas pipelines had suffered unprecedented damage. Swedish seismologists later reported that two explosions had been recorded along the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case into an act of international terrorism following the incident.