Poland warns against restarting Russia gas supplies

The Polish president, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, insisted that economic sanctions against Russia were working and European countries should resist pressure from companies to re-establish business links.

The Nord Stream gas pipelines were built by Russia’s gas giant Gazprom and run between Russia and northern Germany.

Nord Stream 1 was shut down in 2022 and Nord Stream 2 was never used, following the invasion of Ukraine. Both were damaged by explosions in 2022.

Gas prices in Europe surged after the shutdown and, in recent months, politicians from Germany’s far right AfD party have suggested the Nord Stream gas pipes should resume operations.

Germany will hold federal elections at the end of February.

“I believe the Nord Stream pipelines should be dismantled”, Duda said. “This pipeline causes a very big threat to Ukraine, to Poland, to Slovakia but also to other Central European countries.”

He added: “It is a threat from the point of view of energy, from the point of view of the military but also it is a huge economic threat because it means a domination of Russia over Europe in the economic sense.”

On the prospect of a deal between Ukraine and Russia now that US President Donald Trump has taken office, Duda insisted that no peace talks could take place without the participation of Ukraine.

“I’m saying that in my capacity as president of the Republic of Poland, as a neighbour to Ukraine and also as president of a country who has had very hard historic experiences itself,” he said.

“I’m speaking here and referring to World War Two and to Yalta where we were not included in those talks, where certain agreements were made beyond our heads and then we found ourselves behind the Iron Curtain, where, for almost 50 years, we were part of the Soviet sphere of influence,” he said.