UPDATE: Peskov says Kremlin very worried about N Stream incidents

(Rewrites throughout)

MOSCOW/ZURICH/BRUSSELS, Sep 27 (PRIME) -- The Kremlin is very worried about pressure drops in the pipelines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline system, the situation is unprecedented and requires an urgent investigation, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

“Pressure fell significantly indeed, it is in fact an unprecedented situation that requires an urgent investigation. We are extremely worried about the news,” Peskov said.

Peskov also said commenting on the possibility of an attack on the pipeline system that the Kremlin cannot rule out any version. “There is obviously some damage to the pipeline, and we cannot rule out any version of the reasons until the investigation yields results," he said.

According to the operators of the Nord Steam and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, pressure dropped in a thread of Nord Stream 2 and in both threads of Nord Stream on Monday.

Nord Stream AG said in a statement that “the destruction of three threads of the offshore pipelines of the Nord Stream system in one day at the same time is unprecedented. It is still impossible to estimate the timeframe for restoration of the gas transportation infrastructure's operability.”

Media reported that three gas leaks occurred at the Nord Stream pipelines in Swedish and Danish waters.

A representative of Sweden’s Maritime Authority confirmed that the leaks had been detected and also told PRIME that it has no information about the reasons behind the leaks.

The authority recommended that ships should not come closer than five nautical miles, or nine kilometers, to the leaks, the representative said, adding that planes were also advised to fly at least one kilometer above the place of the incidents.

Spokesman for Climate Action and Energy at European Commission Tim McPhie said at a briefing that the leaks do not affect gas shipments to the E.U., because Nord Stream has not been delivering gas for several weeks, and Nord Stream 2 has not been authorized for launch. The European Commission is studying the consequences of the incidents for environment and navigation, he said.

End