On Wednesday, a meeting of the House of Representatives of the US Congress took place, at which US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the topic of Russian-American relations in many sectors. The US parliamentarians discussed the issues of interaction with Russia in the presence of conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, measures to counter the likely interference of Moscow in the US elections this year, and also discussed what can be countered against the deployment of Russian energy projects in Europe.

During the discussion of the last issue, the head of the State Department made a loud statement that Washington will not allow the implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project.

We bring to your attention excerpts from the speech of Mike Pompeo:

On the vision of relations between the United States and Russia as a whole

We accept the challenges that Russia poses to us, with regard to the security of our allies and our strategic relations. This is noticeable in the example of an attempted assassination in Britain using chemical weapons, after we, together with our allies and partners, took appropriate measures. In addition, we are firmly committed to upholding the position that Russia must adhere to all obligations under the Minsk agreement in order to resolve the conflict peacefully in Ukraine. As a guarantor of Bashar Assad, Russia is an important link in the achievement of peace and stability in the Syrian Arab Republic, and must convince the ruling regime to abandon the use of chemical weapons. We call on Russia to observe the principles of the Geneva process.

About accusations against Russia about interference in the electoral process in the US

We will not tolerate if the Russian government interferes in the elections in 2018 year. Much has been done to counteract encroachments, but more needs to be done. Be confident that, as a response to your actions, Russia will receive all the necessary countermeasures.

We have not yet been able to effectively prevent Russian interference. However, the current US administration has made serious efforts to counter Russia, which our partners in Europe and other countries, for which Russian actions represent an even greater threat, have not done.

About joint efforts against construction Nord Stream-2

Europeans are dependent on Russian energy supplies, and this fact limits their freedom in decision-making. In fact, everything looks even more complicated, but this does not change the essence of the problem. Now we have an opportunity to separate the West European countries from Russia by letting the energy resources through the Caucasus and other countries.

We must insist on repealing the construction of the Nord Stream-2. It is impossible to allow even greater dependence of Europe on Russian energy carriers. If we achieve this goal, European countries will be stronger on their feet, and Russia will not have any former influence on their decisions, since it will no longer be able to manipulate energy resources as an instrument of pressure. Comparable in terms of volume, replacement of energy carriers from Russia exists.