Russian President Vladimir Putin in his meeting on Thursday with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested establishing a natural gas hub in Turkey to combat the politicization of energy prices and to set a market price for fuel.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Astana Confidence Building Measures Conference, Putin stated that establishing a hub in Turkey would allow for price regulation, the sale of gas at market prices that are “not sky-high”, and the avoidance of “politicization” of the issue.
Putin went on to say, “We could consider building another gas pipeline and creating a gas hub in Turkey for sale to third countries, especially in Europe.”
Putin further referred to Turkey as “the most dependable partner” for gas deliveries to Europe.
Erdogan did not respond to the suggestion during the televised portion of their meeting but according to a Deutsche Welle report, Erdogan said on Friday that he had directed his government to present their action plan as soon as possible and that the hub “will be an international distribution center”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday also hinted that both leaders had ordered a prompt and thorough investigation of the idea.
Due to the Nord Stream Baltic pipeline explosions last month, Russia is considering redirecting supplies away from the pipeline. The explosion is still under investigation whereas Russia has accused the west of being behind it.
Russian supply to Europe was short even before the explosion due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine however, Russia blamed technical problems in the pipeline on Western sanctions. Before the Ukraine invasion, Russia was the main supplier of gas to Europe with supplying rate of 40%.
