Swedish authorities said on Monday that they were monitoring a small leak coming from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, one of two natural gas arteries under the Baltic Sea that ruptured last week, further increasing tensions between Russia and the West.
Both strands of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and one strand of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline were damaged last week in what Russian and Western leaders called an act of sabotage. Much of the speculation about responsibility has focused on Russia, which has suggested that the United States was to blame.
Denmark, Germany, and Sweden have launched an investigation into what caused the damage, which they said was so sophisticated that only a state actor could have been responsible. Sweden's Navy said on Monday it had sent a vessel capable of advanced diving missions to the area around the ruptured pipes.
The Russian state-owned energy monopoly Gazprom said on Monday that the pressure inside the damaged strands of the pipelines had dropped to a level equivalent to the surrounding pressure on the ocean, effectively stopping gas from leaking out.