Pompeo urges Europe to diversify energy supply away from Russia

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged European countries to diversify their energy supply sources in order to reduce, or eliminate dependence on Russia.

Secretary Pompeo's statement was made amid the ongoing construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

“In America, we just hope that Europe will take seriously the need for a diversified, secure energy base - an energy base not connected to Russia,” Pompeo said in an interview with a Dutch TV channel.

“We know the history of relations between Europe and Russia. We know that during the conflict the Russians will use any tools they have to increase expenditure for Europe if it wants to make decisions that are in its best interests, but may not be in the interests of Russia. We hope that Europe will understand this correctly,” the US Secretary of State added.

Mr Pompeo refused to be drawn on whether there was a risk of sanctions being imposed on Dutch companies which took part in the project.

Last month, Pompeo visited Sochi in Russia for negotiations with the Kremlin's leading statesmen. He met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and with President Vladimir Putin.

Russian foreign minister Lavrov described Pompeo's visit and the negotiations with the Russian side as an attempt to improve the bilateral ties damaged by the Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation and the growing tensions in Venezuela and Iran - which was due to "US unilateral decisions!, as Mr Lavrov referred to it.

Mr Pompeo's comments come not long after the US decision to double the exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to the EU. Last month US Energy Secretary Rick Perry was in Brussels to sign deals bolstering exports of LNG, or "freedom gas" as Mr Perry called it, to Europe, in the name of energy diversity. 

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