Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday his country would work with Russia To turn Ankara into a “natural gas hub”. amid the energy problems in Europe.
What happened: “We will create a node here with Turkish gas from Russia,” Erdogan said. reported Turkey‘s Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan’s comment comes weeks after the Russian president Wladimir PutinThe plan to sell natural gas directly to Europe was rejected. Putin then enlisted Turkey’s help to sell fuel to the continent.
See also: Biden says Putin is “in an incredibly difficult position” resorting to brutalizing Ukrainians
Erdogan told his members AK party in Parliament that “Putin, in his own words, announced to the world that ‘Europe can get its natural gas from Turkey,'” reads the report.
Why it matters: Turkey is a Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) member state and has openly condemned Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. However, it also shares close ties with Russia and has unenforced sanctions or has closed its airspace to land.
Turkey’s deal with Putin comes three weeks later Leaks in the Nord Stream pipeline caused gas bubbles in the Baltic Sea.
In the meantime, Qatar‘s energy secretary has warned Europe will face tougher challenges next year as reserves are depleted.
“It will be fine next winter because the storage capacity is full,” said Saad Sherida al-Kaabi. according to to the Financial Times. “It’s really about replenishing the reserves or storage for next year, that’s going to be the problem.”
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