"It makes Europe more dependent on the United States. It deprives Russia of a bargaining tool for negotiations," said Sachs, special advisor to three UN secretaries-general from 2001 to 2018 and now president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. attempt to blame Russia for the Nord Stream gas pipeline leaks is "very unconvincing," a renowned U.S. scholar and a senior UN advisor has said, calling for an honest investigation.

"The evidence is of course incomplete at this stage, but the attempt of the United States to blame Russia is very unconvincing to say the least," Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told Xinhua recently. "We need an honest investigation."

He said Russia and European countries seem to be the biggest victims.

"It makes Europe more dependent on the United States. It deprives Russia of a bargaining tool for negotiations," said Sachs, special advisor to three UN secretaries-general from 2001 to 2018 and now president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

"This is a serious blow to Europe on many levels," as it has destroyed a major piece of infrastructure at least temporarily and perhaps permanently, and rendered Europe more vulnerable to a deep economic reversal due to the energy crisis, he said.

With energy prices continue to escalate, higher costs of natural gas are resulting in the shutdown of significant industries in Europe, most notably the fertilizer industry, which would ultimately translate into increased food costs and impact industries such as steel, aluminum, zinc, cement, glass and autos, said Andrew Lipow, president of consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates.

Germany, Sweden and Denmark are still investigating the origins of what appeared to be a deliberate sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline built to deliver Russian natural gas to Europe, which resulted in explosions and leaking of hazardous gas.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called the potential attacks "a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy."

As a response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Monday on Telegram that Blinken's remarks revealed that Washington and its NATO partners had "motives for destroying" the Russian-built conduits.