Poland warned against restarting Russian gas supplies
Poland’s president says that even if Russia and Ukraine reach a peace agreement, gas flowing from Russia to Western Europe should never be returned.
The unused Nord Stream gas pipelines “must be dismantled” from 2022, Andrzej Duda told the BBC.
This means that they will not be tempted to restore Russian materials like Germany It boosts its own struggling economy.
“I hope that European leaders will learn from Russia’s attack on Ukraine and push forward in their decision to restore the flow of gas through this pipeline,” he said.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Poland’s president said economic sanctions against Russia were working and European countries should resist pressure from companies to re-establish trade ties.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline, built by Russian giant Gazprom, runs between Russia and northern Germany.
Following the invasion of Ukraine, Nord Stream 1 was closed in 2022 and Nord Stream 2 was never used. In 2022, both were damaged by an explosion.
Gas prices in Europe have risen since the shutdown, and in recent months politicians from Germany’s far-right AfD party have proposed keeping the Nord Stream pipeline open.
Germany will hold federal elections at the end of February.
“I believe the Nord Stream pipelines should be dismantled,” Duda said. “This pipeline poses a major threat to Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia and other Central European countries.”
He added, “This is a threat from a power point of view, but from a military point of view, it is a big economic threat, because economically Russia is dominant in Europe.”
Duda stressed that no peace negotiations can be held without Ukraine’s participation.
“I say that as the president of the Republic of Poland, as a neighbor of Ukraine, and also as the president of a country with very difficult historical experiences,” he said.
“I am speaking here and I am referring to the Second World War and Yalta, where we were not included in those talks, where certain agreements were made over our heads and then we found ourselves behind the Iron Curtain, for 50 years, they were part of the Soviet influence,” he said.
Trump in 2016 They had previously said they would resolve to resolve Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine within 24 hours of February 2022 – after which they admitted it could take some time.
Duda said allowing Russia to occupy territory in Ukraine “is a violation of international law.”
President Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, but Ukraine must accept the fact that it now owns 20% of Russia’s territorial interests.
Putin also refuses to accept that Ukraine is a military ally of the Western countries that is NATO.
“The international community cannot agree, and it is unacceptable for Russia to take some Ukrainian territories and keep them by force. This is unacceptable,” Duda said.
We must not allow Russia to win this war.
Duda said Trump “understands the environment” and US involvement will be key.
“As the leader of the most powerful country in NATO, President Donald Trump will be a key economic leader.” said Duda.
“I look forward to the first steps taken by Donald Trump.”