Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of his Justice and Development Party that he has formed an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to create a gas hub in Turkey, according to Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency. The announcement comes a week after Erdogan and Putin met on the sidelines of an international meeting in Kazakhstan.
The gas hub in Turkey would supply Europe since Russian gas supplies to Europe have been disrupted by sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine as well as leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Under the plan, Russia would export its gas through the TurkStream gas pipeline running beneath the Black Sea to Turkey.
Turkey has since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine maintained ties with both Moscow and Kyiv and has attempted to mediate between the neighboring countries. Turkey previously negotiated a deal to restart grain exports to Europe from Ukraine and a prison swap between Russia and Ukraine. Turkey relies heavily on Russia for energy.