Russia uses gas supplies to control Germany, said US President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Trump says it’s unacceptable that Berlin is paying billions of dollars to Moscow instead of its NATO dues, which protect it from Russia.
Speaking to journalists before a meeting with the NATO secretary general in Brussels, Trump criticised bloc members that approved the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe. The president criticized Germany in particular, calling it a hostage of Russia.
“Germany is captive of Russia because it is getting so much of its energy from Russia. They pay billions of dollars to Russia and we have to defend them against Russia,’ said Trump at a breakfast with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
Germany has resisted US pressure to block Nord Stream 2, which is due to be completed in 2019. The project is an expansion of the existing Nord Stream natural gas pipeline which opened in 2011. The pipeline has been a source of contention for over a year, pitting the US and a small number of Eastern European countries, including Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and others, on one side, against Russia and major EU members, led by Germany, on the other.

source: RT.com