Speaking to journalists before meeting his Polish colleague Andrzej Duda, the US President slammed the joint venture to build a direct gas pipeline from Russia to central Europe via the Baltic Sea, calling it “unfortunate for the people” of Germany.
US President Donald Trump and Polish head of state Andrzej Duda have agreed to unite their efforts against the Russian-European Nord Stream 2 project. According to the two leaders, who met in the White House, energy projects “endangering our security, like Nord Stream 2” should be prevented. Trump stressed that nobody should depend on only one energy supply.
However, Donald Trump has stated the US was not planning to slap any sanctions against companies involved in the Russian project when asked about such a possibility.
“We are not looking to do that. We just think it is very unfortunate for the people of Germany that Germany is paying billions and billions of dollars a year for their energy to Russia,” Trump said to the journalists.
The US has not only spoken out against the Nord Stream 2, but has already taken measures to block the venture. Last year, the CAATSA law (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) was adopted, which stipulates the possibility of imposing unilateral sanctions on companies which are directly involved in Nord Stream 2.
Poland as well as Ukraine, which may suffer a dip in transit revenues if Nord Stream 2 becomes operational, also strongly opposed the venture, while it’s being welcomed by some other countries in Europe, such as Germany and Austria.
Nord Stream 2 AG, which is owned by Public Joint Stock Company Gazprom, has France’s Engie, Austria’s OMV AG, UK-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, and Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall among its investors.