"They have to answer all the questions. First, they must stop categorically refusing to present the facts that they could not help but discover, and when at least some information required by us is not provided via official channels, but appears in newspapers ... this suggests that all this is staged ... and the whole operation is designed to somehow direct public opinion ... from the true performers, perpetrators, customers," Lavrov said.
Russia will insist on conducting a transparent international investigation, the top Russian diplomat said.
Berlin is exchanging data with Russia on the Nord Stream bombings, but is not providing information on the interim results of the investigation, German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said on Monday.
Oleg Tyapkin, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Third European Department, said in an interview with Sputnik that Russia had officially filed a claim against Germany regarding the investigation into the Nord Stream bombing and is seeking to hold talks on Germany fulfilling its international obligations in the fight against terrorism.
"Of course, we reject this [accusations of non-fulfillment of obligations]. We are in the process of exchanging information with the Russian side," Fischer said at a briefing, adding that "it is impossible to inform [Moscow] about the results of the investigation."
The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Europe, were hit by explosions in September 2022. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office opened an investigation into it as an act of international terrorism. Russia has repeatedly requested information about the explosions but has not received any, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.