Moscow's accusations of Britain baseless: France

Paris: The accusations made by Russia that Britain took part in the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipeline and Russia's navy ships in Crimea are baseless, France said on Sunday.

France's foreign ministry added that the accusations were the Russian administration's strategy to turn attention from Russia's responsibility in the war against Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Russia had accused the UK of being "involved" in the Nord Stream gas pipes explosions. Its forces alleged that the British military specialists helped Ukraine plan a drone attack on Moscow's Black Sea Fleet.

Moscow considers the UK to be one of the most unfriendly countries, and since the Ukraine war started, the relationship between the two nations has become almost nonexistent. Russia did not provide any evidence to back the claims.

Russian defence ministry issued a statement saying representatives of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision, and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 that blew up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, reported AFP.

Moscow also claimed that the West is preventing it from being part of international investigations linked to the event. Western countries have been alleging that Russia is responsible for the sabotage, which has led to an energy crisis in Europe.

However, the UK defence ministry slammed the accusations. It had tweeted: "To detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale. This invented story says more about arguments going on inside the Russian Government than it does about the West."

Nord Stream pipelines are critical to Europe as they transmit Russian gas to the continent, which is preparing for winter.