Sweden has sent a formal request to China to cooperate with an investigation into suspected sabotage over the sudden disruption of two submarine internet cables in the Baltic Sea earlier this month, after tracking data linked a Chinese ship to the incidents.

Sweden's prime minister says his government has formally asked China to cooperate in explaining the recent rupture of data cables on the Baltic Sea bed in an area where a China-flagged vessel was sighted.

Multiple countries are investigating and the authorities in Europe say they have not ruled out sabotage. But U.S. intelligence officials have assessed that the cables were not cut deliberately.