Polish president Andrzej Duda thinks that gas flows from Russia to Western Europe should be dismantled forever, regardless of whether or not Russia and Ukraine make peace.
“I can only hope that European leaders will learn lessons from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and that they will push through a decision to never restore the pumping of gas through this pipeline,” he said, referring to Germany, with its shaky economy. The Nord Stream gas pipelines, running between Russia and northern Germany, haven’t been used since 2022, and have been damaged by explosions anyway.
Duda might be biased: last autumn, Germany accused Poland of sabotaging investigations of the explosion, with Poland having its own mystery pipeline.
This comes from a speech he held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, encouraging European countries to keep up sanctions against Russia, which means aid were working.
But gas prices grew menacingly in Europe after the shutdown. Commentators have pointed out that it was cheap Russian gas that allowed Europe to rebuild its economy after the devastation of World War II.
“I believe the Nord Stream pipelines should be dismantled,” Duda said. “This pipeline causes a very big threat to Ukraine, to Poland, to Slovakia but also to other Central European countries.”
Staunchly pro-European, Duda said it would be “a violation of international law” for Russia to be allowed to hold on to territory it has occupied in Ukraine, reports the BBC.
Putin, not willing to budge on captured territory or on blocking Ukraine from joining Nato, now seems to be waiting on Trump to begin negotiations.
But Duda’s hopes are actually lying in Trump, saying that “Trump understands the region” and that he (Duda) is “waiting peacefully” for the next steps.
