OREANDA-NEWS Those who benefit the most from the damage caused to the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea are the ones responsible for it, Russian President Vladmir Putin has said.

“Everybody understands who is behind this and who is the beneficiary. One can now force the liquefied natural gas from the US on to European countries on a much larger scale,” Putin said in a speech at the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow on Wednesday.

The president pointed out that US liquefied natural gas (LNG) is “definitely less competitive than Russian pipeline gas” due its higher price.

Regarding the explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, Putin said: “all the facts have been proven and documented. And the ideologues and the sponsors of those crimes are their eventual beneficiaries; those, who profit from instability and conflict.”

“Who stands behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines? Obviously, those who are looking to completely sever the ties between Russia and the EU, undermine Europe's political sovereignty, weaken its industrial capacity and gain control of its markets,” the president said.

They are also those who “have the technical capacity to carry out such explosions and have already resorted to such sabotage - were caught red-handed while doing so, but avoided liability,” he added.