Swedish police were invited aboard a Chinese vessel in the Baltic Sea on Thursday in order to observe a probe being carried out by Beijing into two severed undersea cables.

The telecom cables – one linking Finland and Germany, the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania – were damaged in mid-November off the coast of Denmark but in Swedish territorial waters.

The Chinese ship, the Yi Peng 3, had been tracked sailing above the cables at the time they were cut, and has remained anchored at the location since November 19.

Sweden: 'No accusation' leveled at China

"Representatives of the Chinese authorities are conducting investigations aboard the vessel and have invited the Swedish authorities to take part in an observer role," Swedish police said in a statement, adding:

"No investigative measures will be taken by the Swedish Police Authority aboard the vessel."

The statement added that a "preliminary investigation into sabotage in connection with two cable breaks in the Baltic Sea is continuing" but stressed that Thursday's observations are not part of those enquiries.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Stockholm requested China's cooperation in the investigation in late November, but stressed that there was no "accusation" of any sort leveled at Beijing.

Other European officials, including German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, have said they suspect sabotage linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Kremlin has dismissed the suggestion as "laughable" and "absurd."

mf/lo (Reuters, AFP)