Polish deputy foreign minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk has said that the ongoing cooperation between Germany and Russia in the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline is reminiscent of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 that essentially divided Central and Eastern Europe between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

“The gas pipeline bypassing Poland and the Baltic states is precisely such an agreement over the heads of others,” Ukrainian news agency UNIAN wrote, quoting Mr Szynkowski vel Sęk.

The deputy foreign FM added that Poland’s protest against the Russian-built pipeline “was not hopeless,” due to the joint rejection of both Poland and the United States.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to be finished by the end of 2019. Once completed, it will deliver an annual 55 billion cubic metres of gas to Germany, bypassing Ukraine and endangering its gas transit role.