Putin attributes Tusk remarks on Nord Stream sabotage suspect to economic convenience

Tusk defends Ukrainian suspect after arrest in Croatia

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed the detention of Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlov, who was arrested in the western Croatian city of Pula under a European Arrest Warrant issued by the German Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe. German prosecutors suspect Zhuravlov of sabotage and property damage tied to the explosions that disabled three of four Baltic Sea pipeline strings of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 at a depth of 80 metres on 26 September 2022. Zhuravlov, who denies involvement, had previously been arrested in Pruszkow on 30 September 2025, but the Regional Court in Warsaw refused his extradition to Germany in October 2025 and ordered his release. Tusk stated that Poland had consistently warned against dependence on Russian energy supplies before the pipeline was constructed.

Germany certainly should not prosecute those who, in a situation where their country has been attacked, take such actions. I will not change my mind here, and I believe that those who built this gas pipeline should be ashamed, not those who disabled it.

Putin attributes Polish position to economic convenience

Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the Polish prime minister's remarks in an interview with the Russian news outlet Vesti on 23 August 2026. Putin stated that he has known Tusk since the planning and construction stages of Nord Stream 2, when Tusk was also serving as prime minister of Poland. According to Putin, the Polish stance is driven by short-term economic convenience linked to transit fee revenues. Putin noted that Russia already operates the Yamal-Europe pipeline crossing Poland, but Russian planners decided to lay pipes along the Baltic Sea bed to reduce transit risks, which lowered transit revenues for Warsaw.

I have known Mr. Tusk for a long time, both during the preparations for the construction of Nord Stream 2 and during the construction itself. Back then, Mr. Tusk was also prime minister, and the motives behind the position of the current Polish government are clear to me. The motives are very simple, economic convenience.

Russian officials demand legal action against Warsaw

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official statement addressing Tusk's remarks, describing them as destructive to the international legal system. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the comments point to lingering tensions between Warsaw and Berlin over past energy policy under former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Zakharova added that Poland's stance on the Nord Stream pipeline could negatively affect Poland's vital security interests. In addition, Russian State Duma deputy Mikhail Sheremet told the TASS news agency that Russian authorities should initiate criminal proceedings against Tusk under Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code for public justification of terrorism and request an international arrest warrant.

Without exaggeration, Tusk can be called an accomplice, an aggressor, and an enemy of the German people, who has de facto lowered himself to the level of an accomplice in international terrorism.

Timeline of the Nord Stream investigation and legal disputes

German investigators maintain that Zhuravlov and several accomplices chartered a yacht departing from the German port of Rostock to transport equipment for the underwater operation. The suspect continues to reject all allegations of involvement in the Baltic Sea blast. The renewed detention in Croatia has revived diplomatic disputes among Moscow, Warsaw, and Berlin regarding jurisdictional responsibility and criminal accountability for the pipeline damage. Legal proceedings surrounding the German European Arrest Warrant now continue through Croatian judicial channels.