TEHRAN, Feb. 02 (MNA) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said the United States was directly involved in explosions that severely damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea last year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously blamed Britain for blowing up the pipelines, which London denied.

In an interview on state TV, Lavrov also said the West was lying about Russia’s refusal to negotiate over Ukraine and was trying to turn Moldova, Georgia and former Soviet states in Central Asia against Moscow, Reuters reported.

In September 2022, there were leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines, which, investigation shows, were caused by a series of explosions believed to be "intentional sabotage."

The Nord Stream pipelines were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea by the Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom.

The leaks coincided with the opening of the Baltic pipeline, delivering natural gas from the North Sea through Denmark to Poland.