A video shared on Facebook claims Secretary of State Antony Blinken said President Joe Biden was responsible for the Nord Stream pipeline leaks.

Verdict:False

Blinken did not state Biden was responsible for the Nord Stream leaks. Neither have blamed anyone as of now for the leaks, though the president has called the issue an “act of sabotage.”

Fact Check:
The Nord Stream pipeline, which transports gas from Russia to Europe, was found to be “extensively damaged” earlier in October with a series of leaks, according to CNBC. Biden has called the pipeline a “deliberate act of sabotage” and blamed Russia of “pumping out disinformation” regarding the pipeline, CNN reported.

The Facebook video claims Blinken confessed that Biden sabotaged the pipelines. The Facebook post cites comments Blinken made in response to a question about the Nord Stream leaks during a press conference.

However, Blinken never stated that Biden was responsible for the Nord Stream leaks. Instead, he was speaking about how the Nord Stream leaks was a “tremendous opportunity” for Europe to remove its energy dependence on Russia. (RELATED: Does This Image Show Russian Conscripts With Mosin-Nagant Rifles?)

“My own sense…is there’s a lot of hard work to do to make sure that countries and partners get through the winter.  Europe itself has taken very significant steps to both decrease demand but also look at ways to pursue the transition to renewables at the same time.  And ultimately this is also a tremendous opportunity,” Blinken said.

He added that the country was “determined to do everything we possibly can to make sure that the consequences of all of this are not borne by citizens in our countries or, for that matter, around the world.”

The State Department Press Office referred Check Your Fact to State Department spokesman Ned Price’s Sept. 28 press conference. Price said, “The idea that the United States was in any way involved in the apparent sabotage of these pipelines is preposterous. It is nothing more than a function of Russian disinformation and should be treated as such.”

The Facebook video’s claim also rested on articles from Zero Hedge and The American Conservative, though neither article states Blinken said Biden was responsible for the leaks, according to The Dispatch Fact Check.

Disinformation regarding Russia’s activities outside of the Ukraine-Russia conflict have circulated on social media. Check Your Fact previously debunked a claim suggesting two other countries had been conquered by Russia.