Brussels, July 11 - Neftegaz.RU. President Donald Trump started the NATO summit today with criticism, saying that Germany is totally controlled by of Russia due to the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
US President Donald Trump has hit out at Germany, saying the country is totally controlled by Russia due to a series of energy deals. He said: «Germany is totally controlled by Russia because they will be getting from 60% to 70% of their energy from Russia, and a new pipeline, and you tell me if that's appropriate because I think it's not and I think it's a very bad thing for NATO.»
Trump stressed that Germany «only makes Russia richer.» and heavily criticized Germany over dependence on natural gas from Russia. «We have to talk about the billions and billions of dollars that's being paid to the country that we are supposed to be protecting you against. You know, everybody is talking about it all over the world, saying - wait a minute, we are supposed to be protecting you from Russia, but why do you pay billions of dollars to Russia for energy? Why our countries in NATO, namely Germany, are having a large percentage of the energy needs paid to Russia and taken care of by Russia?...», he said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel responded to Trump by saying that Germany was independent in its policy choices. «I have experienced myself how a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union,» she noted. «I am very happy that today we are united in freedom... Because of that we can say that we can make our independent policies and make independent decisions.»
After the NATO summit, President Trump will spend 4 days in the UK before his meeting in Helsinki with Russia's Vladimir Putin.
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