President Vladimir Putin proposed that Turkey become a hub for Russian gas, with a new pipeline and an energy exchange.
“If Turkey and our potential buyers are interested, we could consider building another gas pipeline and creating a gas hub in Turkey for sale to third countries, especially in Europe,” the Russian leader told Turkish President during a meeting in Astana.
Putin also suggested setting up a gas exchange in Turkey to determine prices at the talks in the capital of Kazakhstan.
He praised the Turkstream pipeline, which runs through the Black Sea to Turkey and southern Europe, as the safest route for Russian gas, alluding to blasts that damaged two Baltic pipelines linking Germany and Russia.
NATO and the EU have condemned the two Baltic pipelines blast as sabotage.
The Turkstream pipeline was also meant to be blown up, though this did not happen, Putin claimed.
On Wednesday, Putin had described the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines as an “international terrorist attack,” suggesting that Washington could have been behind it.
Putin said Turkey is a logical choice for building a distribution point and a gas exchange, as Turkstream is still working reliably.
“Today, prices are sky-high and we could calmly regulate them there to a normal market level without any political influence,” Putin said, during the meeting held on the sidelines of the Conference on Cooperation and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
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