UK says Royal Navy ship in North Sea for pipeline protection

BIRMINGHAM, England — Britain has sent a Royal Navy ship to patrol the North Sea, as Western allies try to increase protection for undersea pipelines and cables after blasts ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, the defense ministry said Monday.

The Ministry of Defense said a navy frigate is in the North Sea, working with the Norwegian navy “to reassure those working near the gas pipelines.”

The announcement came after a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force group of northern European nations. The force brings together troops from 10 countries, including the Baltic and Nordic nations, and has seen its importance increase since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Britain’s defense ministry said “the group condemned the blatant attacks against civilian infrastructure.”

U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also said Britain will acquire two specialist ships to protect undersea cables and pipes, with the first “multi-role survey ship for seabed warfare” operational by the end of next year.

Undersea blasts that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last week have led to huge methane leaks. Nordic investigators said the blasts involved several hundred pounds of explosives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the West of sabotaging the Russia-built pipelines, a charge vehemently denied by the United States and its allies.

Britain has not officially blamed anyone for the blasts, but Wallace told the Conservative Party’s annual conference that “Putin’s reactions are wider than just Ukraine. His reach goes further. This week, we saw the ‘mysterious’ damage inflicted to the Nord Stream pipelines. And it should remind us all how fragile our economy and infrastructure is to such hybrid attacks.”

Britain has been a major contributor of military aid to Ukraine. Wallace said Britain would train another 20,000 to 30,000 Ukrainian troops in the U.K., in addition to the 10,000 it has trained this year.

Speaking at the U.K. Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham, central England, Wallace said Britain was not seeking to remove Putin as Russia’s leader.

“We’re not in the business of regime change,” he said.

But he also said Putin was unlikely to de-escalate the conflict.

“I don’t think he is going to take an off-ramp,” Wallace said.