US President Donald Trump Monday said he would support Germany pulling out of a pipeline project with Russia over the alleged poisoning of a critic of Moscow, but claimed Berlin may be too “weakened” in terms of energy security to do so.
Asked about the subject after a US Labor Day press conference, Trump said his administration has long advised NATO member Germany against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline deal with Russia, adding that Germany is already too dependent on Russian energy.
“GERMANY IS IN A VERY WEAKENED POSITION ENERGY-WISE”
”Absolutely,” Trump said, indicating his support for a potential German withdrawal from the massive energy deal with Russia.
”But I don’t think Germany is in a position right now. Because Germany is in a very weakened position energy-wise. They are closing all their plants, they are closing their nuclear, they are closing their coal, they are closing a lot of plants. And they have put themselves in a very bad position, frankly, very very bad position,” Trump said.
Touching on a favorite subject, he said NATO exists to supposedly protect Europe from Russia but Germany paid billions of dollars to the country at a time when it is “delinquent” with its annual dues to the alliance.
Calls to withdraw from the project gained new momentum after Alexey Navalny, 44, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, felt sick on Aug. 20. After two days in a Russian hospital, he was sent to Berlin for treatment.