Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has claimed that he was the one who stopped the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea. The pipeline, which was never put into operation, was damaged by sabotage in September 2022.
In a live interview with conservative American journalist Tucker Carlson in Glendale, Arizona in front of a large crowd, Trump denied long-standing accusations of being a Russian sympathizer. “[The Democrats] love to say that I was a friend of Russia, I worked for Russia, I was a Russian spy,” Trump said, calling supporters of this version “sick” people.
He suggested that Nord Stream 2 was one of Russia’s greatest and most important projects. “I killed it. Nobody would kill it but me. I stopped it. The thing was half-built, dead” he said, without elaborating.
However, Trump continued, US President Joe Biden – whom he called a “dumb guy” – let construction of the pipeline continue while simultaneously cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline, which was meant to transport oil from Canada to the US.
According to the Republican, while in office he raised strong objections with Germany over the country’s ties with Moscow. “I say: ‘Let’s get this straight. We’re helping and guarding you from Russia, but you are paying Russia billions of dollars a month for oil. How is that working?’ I stopped that,” he said, adding that he was still accused of being a friend of Russia.
Nord Stream 2, which was intended to complement the already operational Nord Stream 1, was completed in 2021, but was never commissioned due to fears that the EU, and Germany in particular, would become too dependent on Russia. The Trump administration was especially critical of the project and targeted it with sanctions.
In 2021, with the pipeline nearly complete, Biden waived some of the restrictions, saying they were “counterproductive for European relations.” However, in February 2022, days before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended certification of the pipeline after Russia recognized the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
In September 2022, the pipelines were targeted by a series of underwater explosions, causing severe leaks. Western media reports have suggested that the sabotage was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence, a claim rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said Kiev lacked the necessary expertise to carry out such an attack. The Russian leader suggested that the US was behind the explosions, stating that they stood to gain the most from the operation.
He has also said that one string of the pipeline is still operational, but Germany refuses to use it because of political considerations.