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/
