NNA - The Kremlin said Thursday that a foreign state was likely responsible for an incident that resulted in the leaks at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe.

"It's very difficult to imagine that such a terrorist act could happen without the involvement of a state," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his daily press briefing.

After explosions were reported earlier this week in suspected sabotage, a fourth leak was detected in the undersea gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe on Thursday.

"This is an extremely dangerous situation that requires urgent investigation," Peskov said. 

On Wednesday, Russia launched an "international terrorism" probe. 

Peskov said such an investigation "required the cooperation of several countries" but denounced an "acute shortage of communications and unwillingness of many countries to contact" Russia.-- AFP

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