US shouldn't interfere in European energy policy: German diplomat

A top German diplomat says the United States must not determine the European energy policy after President Donald Trump launched a sharp public attack on Germany for supporting a Baltic Sea gas pipeline deal with Russia.

Foreign Ministry State Secretary Andreas Michaelis told a conference on transatlantic ties hosted by the Aspen Institute think tank in Berlin on Tuesday that Russia would remain a key energy supplier for Europe, regardless of US pressure on the issue.

“This is part of European core interests,” Michaelis said, adding, “I don’t want European energy policy to be defined in Washington.”

The United States strongly opposes the project, which is led by Russian gas giant Gazprom and financed by five Western companies, but Michaelis said it was a matter of national sovereignty.

“We need to consult the European partners. We need to have a sound model that works,” he said. “But I’m certainly not willing to accept that Washington is deciding at the end of the day that we should not rely on Russian gas and that we should not complete this pipeline project.”

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On September 25, Trump told the UN General Assembly that Germany was under threat of becoming completely reliant on Russian gas.

“Germany will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course. Here in the Western Hemisphere, we are committed to maintaining our independence from the encroachment of expansionist foreign powers."

Trump said at a NATO summit in Brussels on July 11 that Germany’s support for the $11-billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will bypass Ukraine to transfer Russia’s gas to Germany through the Baltic Sea, showed that Berlin had become “a captive to Russia.”

The United States has opposed the Nord Stream 2 project, arguing it will increase Russia’s political sway in Europe. Washington has even indicated that firms investing in the project could be slapped with US sanctions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has criticized Trump for his comments on a major pipeline project that will double the amount of gas transferred from Russia to Germany, saying the remarks are meant to dissuade the country’s gas customers and force them to buy American energy supplies instead.

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The German government said last week it continues to regard the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a useful project, given that it expects Germany’s gas demand to increase over coming years.

Germany, however, is also pressing to ensure that Ukraine is able to maintain a role as a gas transit country once the Russian-backed undersea pipeline is complete.

German diplomat criticizes US withdrawal from JCPOA

Elsewhere in his remarks, Michaelis said that a more balanced transatlantic relationship also required Berlin to speak out when there were areas of disagreement, such as over the US withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Senior officials in Berlin considered a mistake the US move to pull out of the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Michaelis said some policymakers in Washington were realizing that Europe needed more “room to breathe” with regard to the nuclear deal, particularly on the financing front.

The diplomat added that he was not aware that the US government was moving toward imposing sanctions on the Belgium-based SWIFT global payment network.

He said European diplomats were focused on the need to facilitate business transactions permitted under US sanctions against Iran, for instance involving humanitarian aid.

Leaders of the SWIFT banking system held meetings with US officials last week to make sure Tehran retained its access to the international banking system after Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal in May.

Trump says the SWIFT global payment network and European countries should end their business with Tehran in a bid to put maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic.

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