The Trudeau government and the Trump administration have found common ground at the NATO summit — shared concern over a proposed Russian pipeline that would cross through the Baltic Sea into Germany.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada has significant concerns over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would bring gas from Russia to the Baltic coast of Germany.
Freeland says she has discussed the issue with Ukraine, which opposes the pipeline because of the leverage it would give Russia over European countries.
At the summit’s opening, U.S. President Donald Trump railed against what he characterized as a “massive gas deal” between Germany and Russia, calling it inappropriate.
Trump says the deal makes Germany “captive” to Russia, and he urged NATO leaders to take a closer look at it.
It is unusual for Trump to express concerns about Russian behaviour and his remarks were a sharp departure from positive comments he made Tuesday about how Russian President Vladimir Putin poses less of a problem for him than his miserly NATO allies or the European Union’s pending Brexit breakup with Britain.