Oliver Smith & Faisal Islam
BBC News
Poland’s president has said that gas flows from Russia to Western Europe should never be restored, even if Russia and Ukraine reach a peace deal.
Andrzej Duda told the BBC that the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which have not been used since 2022, “should be dismantled”.
This, he said, would mean the likes of Germany would not be tempted to restore Russian supplies to boost its own struggling economy.
“I can only hope that European leaders will learn lessons from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and that they will push through a decision to never restore the pumping of gas through this pipeline,” he said.
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.
Trump had previously said he would negotiate a settlement to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022 in 24 hours – he has since acknowledged it could take some time.
Duda said it would be “a violation of international law” for Russia to be allowed to hold on to territory it has occupied in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin has said he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, but Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20% of its land.
Putin also refuses to accept Ukraine joining Nato, the military alliance of Western countries.
Duda said: “The international community cannot agree, and it is unacceptable that Russia would take certain territories of Ukraine and keep them by force. This is unacceptable.
“We must not let Russia win this war.”
Duda said Trump “understands the region” and US involvement would be key.
“President Donald Trump – as the leader of the most powerful country within Nato, as the leader of the most powerful economy – will be of key importance,” said Duda.
“I am waiting peacefully for the first steps which will be taken by Donald Trump.”
