evidence: President Joe Biden on Friday called the leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines a "deliberate act of sabotage" and accused Russia and President Vladimir Putin of "pumping out disinformation and lies," though he did not directly accuse Moscow for the leaks. Biden’s strong words mark the first time he’s directly asserted that the leaks were a result of sabotage, pushing back on Russia’s narrative about the incident amid Moscow’s escalating efforts to assert its claim over Ukrainian territory. [...] Western nations have said leaks in Nord Stream 1 and 2, two Russian gas pipelines, are likely the result of sabotage. But up to this point, US officials had been largely circumspect compared to their European counterparts in drawing conclusions about the leaks.