Trump and Putin Response to Nord Stream II - LNG Question. July 16, 2018 Press Conference.

Transcript below from July 16, 2018 joint press conference between President Trump and President Putin. Response to Interfax Information Agency question to President Trump regarding the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, U.S. LNG, and calling President Putin an adversary.

President Trump: Well actually I called him a competitor and a good competitor he is. I think the word competitor is a compliment. I think that we will be competing when you talk about the pipeline. I’m not sure necessarily that it’s in the best interests of Germany or not but that was a decision that they made. We’ll be competing. As you know, the United States is now or soon will be, but I think it actually is right now the largest in the oil and gas world. So we’re going to be selling LNG and we’ll have to be competing with the pipeline and I think will compete successfully although there is a little advantage locationally. So I just wish them luck. I mean I did. I discussed with Angela Merkel in pretty strong tones. But I also know where they’re all coming from and they have a very close source. So we’ll see how that all works out. But we have lots of sources now and the United States is much different than it was a number of years ago when we weren’t unable to extract what we could extract today. So today we’re number one in the world at that, and I think we’ll be out there competing very strongly. Thank you very much.

President Putin (via interpreter): If I may, I’d throw in some two cents. We talked to Mr. President, including this subject as well. We are aware of the stance of President Trump, and I think that we as a major oil and gas power and the United States as a major oil and gas power as well. We could work together on regulation of international markets because neither of us is actually interested in the plummeting of the prices. And the consumers will suffer as well and the consumers in the United States will suffer as well. The shale gas production will suffer. Because beyond a sudden price breakup it’s no longer profitable to produce gas. But nor we are interested in driving prices up because it will drain just as just as from all other sectors of the economy. So we do have space for cooperation here. That’s the first thing. Then about the Nord Stream 2, Mr. President voiced his concerns about the possibility of disappearance of transit through Ukraine and I reassured Mr. President that Russia stands ready to maintain this transit. Moreover we stand ready to extend this transit contract that’s about to expire next year in case if the dispute between the economic entities dispute will be settled in the Stockholm arbitration court.