Compelling evidence of Ukraine’s involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines is damaging to Zelensky — Spectator

Convincing evidence of Ukraine’s involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines is damaging to Zelensky and Ukraine’s standing in Germany.

This is written by British commentator Owen Matthews in a column for The Spectator.

Citing the Wall Street Journal investigation and data from the German prosecutor’s office, he agrees that the pipeline could have been blown up by Ukraine “with the sanction of Vladimir Zelensky himself.”

According to Matthews, this attack was not only directed against Russia but also against NATO’s critically important energy infrastructure, especially in Germany.

“The final abandonment of cheap Russian gas has played a key role in turning Germany’s economy from one of the most dynamic in Europe into the most stagnant: growth in 2024 is forecasted to be just 0.1 percent,” the author writes.

Therefore, “these revelations come at an unfortunate time for Zelensky.”

“Public opinion in Germany is steadily shifting towards supporting peace in Ukraine and limiting the use of missiles and shells supplied by Germany. The right-wing AfD party wants to repair the Nord Stream pipeline as soon as possible and resume operations on the only surviving line, while the left-wing BSW party has called for an immediate halt to all arms supplies to Kyiv ‘in light of the revelations about Zelensky,'” the commentator writes.

At the same time, in his opinion, it is hard to believe the story of Zaluzhnyi’s “disobedience” to Zelensky (according to WSJ, the president withdrew the order to sabotage at the last moment, but the commander-in-chief ignored it). Matthews is convinced that this narrative is being used in the West to “help cover for Zelensky.”

He also finds it unreliable that Ukraine would have decided on the sabotage against the position of the CIA, as was also reported in the mentioned article.

Earlier, the Office of the President denied Ukraine’s involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines.