We have already spoken about it extensively, even if perhaps the news has not occupied the front pages of Italian online sites as it should. gas pipeline North Streamwhich everyone, or almost everyone, initially accused Russia of self-sabotage for, was actually destroyed by the Ukrainians. This was supported by some investigations of the New York Times and of the Washington Postthis is now confirmed – barring any surprises – by the arrest warrant issued by the German prosecutor’s office against a Ukrainian citizen resident in Poland.
The explosion of the pipeline managed to put European gas supplies in difficulty, which in those months were already in great difficulty due to price increases and the imminent “differentiation” to detach the Old Continent from Putin’s hydrocarbons. Technically, such an operation according to international law could be considered an act of war against the country that owns the infrastructure. In this case GermanyWhich, moreover, still pays dearly for the cost of blocking gas imports from Russia: just to regasify LNG it spends about 1 million euros a day. Not exactly crumbs.
And here we come to Federico Grappling hooksThe analyst on the Courier points out the hypocrisy of a West that does not seem to have understood the importance of such a snub from Kiev. “Ukraine lied when it tried to divert the hunt for the culprits by focusing attention on Russia,” writes the journalist who lists “some lessons” to be learned from this “deception perpetrated by a friendly nation to which the West has given aid and weapons, albeit in insufficient quantities.” First: it is wrong to “hastily downgrade” the crime, even for those who support Ukraine without ifs or buts. It is true that in war the first victim is the truth, but at least a minimum of respect is expected from allies.
The lesson that Rampini draws from this is that “even when there is a wrong and a right, an aggressor and an aggressed, a victim and an executioner, this does not mean that on one side there is always and only Evil, on the other always and only Good”. You cannot absolve every behavior of your ally. “Ukraine deserves more political and economic support, more weapons, more defense agreements than we have given it so far, but this does not mean that we must remain silent about its mistakes and crimes – continues the journalist – A German general, faced with the conclusions of the investigation into the sabotage against Nord Stream, said this: if a similar attack had been carried out by an enemy nationthere were grounds for invoking Article 5 of the NATO Treaty and react with military action. In fact, attacks against civilian infrastructures such as those that transport energy are equated to acts of war. In that case, the Ukrainians disabled a key infrastructure that supplied energy to Germany.”
Now, it is true that “Kiev managed to pull off the coup and hide its hand, long enough that when the truth came out the reactions were mild”. But it is also true that, unlike in other places in the world, where dictatorships reign, Western democracies are capable of “a transparency that other political regimes ignore”. The important thing is to remember that “sometimes we are liars too”. And perhaps make public amends when we discover we were wrong.
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