Turkish Stream pipeline project a go if Turkey gets guarantees from Brussels: Putin

MOSCOW

AFP photo

The Turkish Stream gas pipeline project will continue if Turkey manages to obtain guarantees from Brussels, said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, speaking at his annual press conference on Dec. 17.

“We need guarantees in writing from the European Commission that all routes…will become a priority with the EC’s support. If Gazprom’s Turkish partners bring us a document of this sort, we can move on. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened for now,” Putin said, as quoted by TASS. 

He underlined that the project’s fate depends on the “other sides,” not Russia.

Russian and Turkish officials have recently said talks on building the Turkish Stream pipeline have been suspended after the jet crisis erupted between the two countries on Nov. 24, resulting in a number of sanctions imposed by Russia against Turkey in economic and trade fields. The future of several leading infrastructure and energy projects has been questioned, including the Akkuyu nuclear power plant project, amid the crisis. 

Putin said Russia’s decision to participate in the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey would be based on purely commercial considerations.

“Questions about this project should be decided on a corporate level ... We will not take a single step that would damage our own economic interests,” Putin told his annual news conference, as quoted by Reuters.