President, 

I wish to thank Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča and Ms. Oguljeren Niyazberdiyeva for their briefings. I have listened attentively to the statement by Mr. Larry C. Johnson.

It has been more than 18 months since the Nord Stream pipeline explosions. It is simply regretful that no conclusion has been reached on this matter. China notes that as major parties to the incident and having conducted country-specific investigations for more than a year, Sweden and Denmark announced in February this year the termination of their investigations. The country-specific investigations of the two countries did not disclose substantive information, did not reveal concrete progress, and did not draw clear conclusions, sparking more speculations and misgivings in the international community.

The explosions of the Nord Stream pipeline were a serious incident that undermined transnational energy infrastructure. Since the explosions, the Council has considered the issue on many occasions, and many Council members, including China, have been calling for an objective, impartial, and professional investigation to find out the truth as soon as possible and to bring the perpetrators to justice in order to prevent the reoccurrence of similar incidents. In the wake of the incident, members of the Council debated whether to conduct an international or country-specific investigation. At that time, some members strongly advocated that Sweden, Denmark, and Germany be given the trust and the time to conduct their own country-specific investigations. However, after more than a year of investigations, no truth has been established, with only scant information offered. With the situation standing where it is, one cannot help but suspect a hidden agenda behind the opposition to an international investigation, while lamenting the potential cover-up and loss of quantities of compelling evidence. There is an old Chinese saying: it is never too late to mend the fold after the sheep is lost. We reiterate our call for the early launch of a UN-led international investigation to bring the truth to light for the international community. 

Russia is one of the main parties to the Nord Stream pipeline explosions. We call on the countries concerned to actively communicate and cooperate with Russia in the joint investigation. On the Nord Stream issue, it is important to avoid double standards within the international community, and especially within the Council. Russia has recently circulated a draft PRST on the Nord Stream pipeline exclusions, which objectively describes the situation and calls on the parties concerned to cooperate in the investigation. These elements, clear and concise, meet the expectation of the international community and should be the consensus of the Council. we hope that an early agreement can be secured on the draft, so that the Council can speak out on this issue as soon as possible.

Thank you, President.