<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Sweden has found a new leak in a major undersea pipeline carrying carrying Russian natural gas to&nbsp; the EU - making it the fourth discovered this week.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Denmark and Sweden reported gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines earlier this week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nato said the incidents were the result of "deliberate, reckless and irresponsible acts of sabotage".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia dismissed suggestions that it had attacked its own pipelines as "predictable and stupid".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Instead, the Russian foreign ministry said the blasts had occurred in "zones controlled by American intelligence".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The German ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, told the BBC it was clear that a non-state actor could not have been behind the incidents - in other words, a country must have been responsible.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Swedish coast guard said they had found the fourth leak on Nord Stream 2, very close to a larger leak found earlier on Nord Stream 1.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The EU has repeatedly accused Russia of using gas supplies as a weapon against the West, in retaliation for its support for Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is "very obvious" who is behind the damage, said the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, without elaborating.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">How Russia is cutting off gas to Europe</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he was "extremely concerned" about the leaks, adding that the possibility of a deliberate attack could not be ruled out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">EU leaders have said any attack on the continent's energy infrastructure would be met with the "strongest possible response".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, Norway - which is not in the EU - said it would deploy its military to protect oil and gas installations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Neither Nord Stream 1 or 2 is transporting gas at the moment, although they both contain gas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Nord Stream 1 pipeline - which consists of two parallel branches - has not transported any gas since late August when Russia closed it down, saying it needed maintenance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It stretches 1,200km (745 miles) under the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St Petersburg to north-eastern Germany. Its twin pipeline, Nord Stream 2, was halted after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Seismologists reported underwater blasts before the leaks emerged. Denmark's Defence Command has released footage of the leaks which shows bubbles - the largest is 1km in diameter - at the surface of the Baltic Sea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And Bjorn Lund of Sweden's National Seismology Centre said there was "no doubt that these were explosions".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, Andrei Kortunov of the Russian International Affairs Council - a Moscow-based think tank - said a Russian attack didn't make sense.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They always point finger at Russia but I think since it's the Russian property it would be not very logical for Russia to inflict damage upon it," he told BBC Radio 4.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There are other ways to make European lives harder. They can simply stop the gas deliveries without damaging the infrastructure." Source: HT</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>