Putin courts Erdogan with plan to pump more Russian gas via Turkey
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[October 13, 2022]
ASTANA (Reuters) -Russian
President Vladimir Putin proposed to his Turkish counterpart Tayyip
Erdogan on Thursday that Moscow could export more gas via Turkey and
turn it into a new supply "hub", bidding to preserve Russia's energy
leverage over Europe.
At a meeting in Kazakhstan, Putin said Turkey offered the most reliable
route to deliver gas to the European Union, and the proposed platform
would allow prices to be set without politics.
Russia is looking to redirect supplies away from the Nord Stream Baltic
gas pipelines, damaged in explosions last month that are still under
investigation. Russia blamed the West, without providing evidence, and
rejected what it called "stupid" assertions that it had sabotaged the
pipelines itself.
Putin told Erdogan the hub would be "a platform not only for supplies,
but also for determining the price, because this is a very important
issue".
"Today, these prices are sky-high," he said. "We could easily regulate
[them] at a normal market level, without any political overtones."
Erdogan did not respond in the televised portion of their meeting, but
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Russian news agency
RIA as saying both men had ordered a rapid and detailed examination of
the idea.
Russia supplied about 40% of Europe's gas before its Feb. 24 invasion of
Ukraine but had cut flows sharply even before the explosions, blaming
technical problems that it said were the result of Western sanctions.
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European governments rejected that explanation, accusing Moscow of using
energy as a geopolitical weapon.
TURKISH MEDIATION
Relations with NATO member Turkey are vital to Russia at a time when the
West has hit it with waves of economic sanctions, which Ankara has
refrained from joining. Turkey has, however, rejected Russia's move to
annex four Ukrainian regions as a "grave violation" of international
law.
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![](../images/101322PIX/news_u37.jpg)
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meet on the sidelines of the 6th
summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building
Measures in Asia (CICA), in Astana, Kazakhstan October 13, 2022.
Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
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Erdogan has sought to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv, and achieved
a rare breakthrough in July when, together with the United Nations,
he brokered an agreement allowing for the resumption of commercial
Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports that Russia had
blockaded.
Russia has complained, however, that its own grain and fertiliser
exports, while not directly targeted by Western sanctions, continue
to be hampered by problems with access to foreign ports and
obtaining insurance.
Erdogan told Putin: "We are determined to strengthen and continue
the grain exports ... and the transfer of Russian grain and
fertiliser to less developed countries via Turkey."
Russian officials had said before the meeting that they were open to
hearing proposals from Turkey about hosting peace talks involving
Russia and the West.
However, Peskov was quoted by RIA as saying "the topic of a
Russian-Ukrainian settlement was not discussed" by the leaders.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this week signalled
increasing receptiveness to talks after Moscow suffered a series of
military defeats. Washington dismissed his comments as "posturing".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ruled out talking to
Putin after he proclaimed the annexation of the four Ukrainian
regions and after Russia rained missiles on Ukrainian cities this
week in the wake of an attack on a vital bridge between Russia and
Crimea, the peninsula it seized in 2014.
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan, Editing by Kevin
Liffey)
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