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350090
Thu, 12/04/2014 - 09:01
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Russia ready to continue talks with Austria, Hungary, Serbia on ways out of South Stream situation - ambassador

MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. Russia is ready to continue talks with Austria, Hungary and Serbia on ways out of the situation that developed as a result of the closure of the South Stream project, Russia’s ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said Wednesday. “Serbia is of course not an EU member as of today, but Serbia is known to have applied for joining the EU,” he said. “We have all been witnessing EU pressure on Belgrade in political terms, including the issue of joining the anti-Russian sanctions, and, you can be sure, in economic terms too.” “The Russian side is ready to discuss what to do next and how to overcome the situation,” Chizhov said on Rossiya 24 TV channel. “The gas pipeline may go in any direction from the Turkish hub.” South Stream closure Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on December 1 that the project to build the South Stream gas pipeline is closed due to the European Union’s unconstructive approach to cooperation in that sphere. Russia will focus on building a similar pipeline to Turkey instead, he said. Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom was implementing the South Stream project to diversify deliveries of natural gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine and reduce dependence on transit countries. The sea section of South Stream was supposed to run along the bottom of the Black Sea from the Russkaya compressor plant on the Russian coast to Bulgaria’s coast. The overall length of the sea section was supposed to total over 900 kilometers (560 miles), the maximum depth - to exceed 2 kilometers and the annual design capacity to be 63 billion cubic meters. The first supplies of gas via the gas pipeline were due in late 2015. Now the Russkaya compressor plant will apparently be used for the new project to build a gas pipeline to Turkey, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said after a press conference of the Russian and Turkish leaders on Monday following Putin’s state visit to Turkey. The new pipe’s design capacity will also be 63 billion cu m a year, Miller said. Anti-Russian sanctions The West, inspired by the United States, subjected Russian officials and companies to the first batch of sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, after Russia incorporated Crimea in mid-March after a coup in Ukraine in February. New, sectoral, penalties against Russia were announced in late July over Moscow’s position on Ukrainian events, in particular, what the West claimed was Russia’s alleged involvement in hostilities in Ukraine’s embattled southeast. Russia responded with imposing on August 6 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United States and Norway. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed Western allegations that it could in any way be involved in hostilities in the southeast of Ukraine. Read more

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