Putin considers Türkiye the best possible route to transport gas to Europe
The Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Türkiye was the most reliable way to deliver gas to the European Union, and suggested building what he called a supply center there.
Speaking at a bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Erdogan, Putin said that energy supplies from Russia to Türkiye were in a full flow and were proceeding according to requests.
On the other hand, the French presidency said last Thursday that the Russian president’s proposal to establish a gas center in Türkiye for export to Europe doesn’t make sense because the Europeans want to reduce their dependence on Russian energy resources.
The Elysee Palace added: “Russia and Türkiye decide together to export more gas, but this cannot be towards the European Union, which has obligations related to sovereignty and reducing its dependence, in addition to regarding a climate transitional phase that does not conform to a similar logic”.
On Friday, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he had ordered the Ministry of Energy to work on establishing a natural gas center in Türkiye, a day after his Russian counterpart, Putin suggested the possibility of Moscow exporting more natural gas through Turkish territory, and turning it into a new supply center.
The Turkish president said, in statements to the Turkish NTV channel, that Ankara and Moscow will work immediately to implement Putin’s proposal to transport Russian gas through Türkiye to the European continent.
The Turkish president suggested that the Thrace region in the northwest of the country would be the most suitable for the Russian president’s proposal to establish an international center for gas distribution.
This came in press statements by Erdogan in the presidential plane while returning from the Kazakh capital, Astana, after his participation in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (SICA).
The Turkish President explained that the Turkish Energy Ministry will work with the Russian side to study the establishment of the gas center and present the results.
Erdogan added that he gave instructions to Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, and that Putin gave instructions to Gazprom head Alexei Miller, and stressed However, Türkiye will take all necessary steps on the security front to secure the natural gas distribution center.
