Ukraine and Poland vow to jointly fight against Nord Stream 2
Ukraine and Poland will work together with their allies and partners to counter the launch of Nord Stream 2 until solutions are developed to overcome the security crisis, support countries in their aspirations to become members of Western democratic institutions and minimize threats to peace and energy security, reads a joint statement by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, published on the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
The document notes that the decision to build Nord Stream 2, which was approved in 2015 a few months after Russia's invasion and illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory, created a crisis in politics and security, as well as a crisis of confidence in Europe.
"Now this crisis significantly deepens due to abandoning attempts to stop the launch of the gas pipeline. Such a decision created additional political, military and energy threats to Ukraine and Central Europe as a whole. At the same time, it increases Russia's ability to exert a destructive influence on security in Europe, deepens the differences between NATO and EU states," the statement reads.
The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland believe that any credible attempt to restore the balance of security in the region should take into account possible negative risks in three areas: political, military and energy. It should also be democratic, provide for negotiations with the governments of the countries that strongly feel the negative consequences of Nord Stream 2.
"Unfortunately, the current proposals to fill the emerging security deficit cannot be considered sufficient to effectively minimize the threats posed by Nord Stream 2. We call on the United States and Germany to adequately address the security crisis in our region, the only winning side of which is Russia," the statement reads.
The United States and Germany agreed on a common position on the "Nord stream-2". Under the agreement, if Russia tries to use energy as a weapon or takes further aggressive action against Ukraine, Germany will initiate sanctions that will restrict Russian energy exports to Europe.
Most U.S. lawmakers from both parties, reacted negatively to the agreement.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced that Ukraine is initiating consultations with the European Commission and Germany on the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.