Putin notes Erdogan’s firm position on gas contract with Russia in face of West pressure

MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday noted his Turkish counterpart Recet Tayyip Erdogan’s firm position on the gas contract with Russia in the face of the West pressure. Answering a question of the West’s request for Turkey to join sanctions against Russia, Putin said he proposed Ergodan at the Russian-Turkish talks on the expansion of gas cooperation: “Let’s not declare some things”. “When I was there I told Mr. Erdogan: maybe, no need to talk about some things in public. No need to poke the bear and they will come swarming in here tomorrow,” he said. “But Mr. Erdogan is a strong man. He said: ‘No. We will’. This is the choice of our Turkish partners,” Putin said. “We hide nothing and we’re not going to steal anything. We’re sorting out bilateral relations,” he said. On December 1, Putin said in the current conditions, Russia could not begin the implementation of the South Stream project. “Bearing in mind the fact that we have not yet received Bulgaria’s permission, we think Russia is such conditions cannot continue this project. I mean we are to begin the construction of the pipeline system in the Black Sea. We cannot begin the construction of the seabed section until we have Bulgaria’s permit,” Putin said. Russia cannot begin the construction of the seabed section to stop at the Bulgarian coast. “It is absurd. I think it is obvious,” he noted, adding that Russia is forced to revise its participation in the project. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller confirmed that the South Stream project has been closed. South Stream was expected to run across the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe - Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Italy and Slovenia. Now Moscow plans to develop a “gas hub” to Southern Europe via Turkey. Bulgaria’s annual loss from termination of the South Stream project is estimated at 400 million euros. A new gas distributing hub will be built in the Turkish territory at the border with Greece. It will replace the South Stream project, which was terminated due to the EU’s opposition. Under the new project, Turkey may become a major intermediary supplying the Russian natural gas. The construction will make it possible to have nil risks related to transit of the Russian gas via Ukraine, Miller said. Read more