Turkey at this stage does not intend to refuse supplies of natural gas from Russia, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.
"The energy issue will be discussed between the energy ministers [of Turkey and Israel]. We said that if Israel reaches the volume of gas to export to Europe, Turkey will be the only economic route [to make it happen]. We, Turkey, have no problem, and so far there is no decision not to buy gas from Russia in terms of energy security," the Sabah newspaper quoted him as saying.
Turkish officials have previously repeatedly stated that it is impossible to refuse gas supplies from Russia.
For example, in late March, Cavusoglu said that Turkey was not able to refuse supplies of Russian gas in the short term. At the same time, he said that Ankara was considering ways to reduce its energy dependence on other countries.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to an appeal for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow's plans did not include occupation of Ukrainian territories; the goal was the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The West responded by imposing large-scale sanctions on Russia.
In response to such actions, Putin instructed to transfer payments for gas supplies to unfriendly countries to rubles. He said that Moscow would refuse to accept payments for contracts in compromised currencies, including dollars and euros, and ordered the government to instruct Gazprom to make the necessary changes to existing contracts.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS