Vladimir Putin says Germany remains “occupied”

• Vladimir Putin said Germany’s reaction to the North Sea pipeline accident demonstrated that the country was still “occupied.”
• The pipelines were supposed to transport Russian gas to Germany.
• He also said that European politicians had been browbeaten into surrendering their feeling of sovereignty and independence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Germany’s reaction to the North Sea pipeline accident demonstrated that the country was still “occupied” and unable to act autonomously decades after its capitulation at the conclusion of World War II.

In an interview with Russian television, Putin also said that European politicians had been browbeaten into surrendering their feeling of sovereignty and independence.

Western countries, particularly Germany, have reacted gingerly to probes into the explosives that struck Russia‘s Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, stating they believe the blasts were intentional but declining to name who they suspect was responsible.

“The matter is that European politicians have said themselves publicly that after World War Two, Germany was never a fully sovereign state,” sources quoted Putin.

“The Soviet Union at one point withdrew its forces and ended what amounted to an occupation of the country. But that, as is well known, was not the case with the Americans. They continue to occupy Germany.”

Putin informed the interviewer that the explosions were carried out on a “state level,” dismissing as “complete nonsense” accusations that an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was to blame.

The pipelines were supposed to transport Russian gas to Germany, but Berlin has made steps to minimize its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Authorities in Berlin have been circumspect about apportioning responsibility for the explosives, with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stating last week the blasts could have been a “false-flag operation to blame Ukraine”.

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