The US and
Poland issued a joint statement Saturday to condemn a proposed gas pipeline
that would link Germany and Russia, saying the project could undermine attempts
to make Europe less reliant on Moscow for energy.
U.S.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz
denounced the pipeline after a meeting in Warsaw. The pipeline, known as Nord
Stream 2, would bypass Poland and be the second pipeline to carry Russian gas
directly to Germany and Western Europe via the Baltic Sea instead of through
Poland and Ukraine.
“Like
Poland, the United States opposes the Nord Stream 2 pipeline,” Tillerson said
at a news conference with Czaputowicz. “We see it as undermining Europe’s
overall energy security and stability and provides Russia with yet another tool
to use energy as a political tool.”
Czaputowicz
said the pipeline was “not a healthy piece of infrastructure” for Europe’s
energy stability.
In addition
to energy security, the two diplomats also discussed boosting military cooperation.
Poland would like to see the US enhance its military presence in the country.
“The stationing of American troops on our
territory gives us, the Poles, a sense of security and we are grateful for
that,” he said. “We want this presence to be even bigger and we want it to be
permanent,” said Czaputowicz.
5,000 U.S.
troops were deployed to Poland last year as part of two separate American and
NATO missions.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/us-and-poland-oppose-russia-backed-pipeline-to-europe/