Russia’s Lavrov says heard nothing new in meeting with Turks
“If Turkey considers it needs this project, it can contact us”, RIA Novosti quoted Miller as saying.
Meanwhile, Russia Today has reported that Lavrov said he heard nothing new from his Turkish counterpart regarding Ankara’s position on the downing of the Russian warplane. Davutoglu said a rejection of Russia’s claims by the United States was further evidence that Moscow was peddling a fabricated narrative.
Talks between Russian and Turkey on building a natural gas pipeline through to Europe are suspended, Russia’s energy minister said.
The value of Turkey’s business makes it unlikely that Putin will break Russia’s deals to supply gas, according to Emin Danis, energy program coordinator at Istanbul-based Caspian Strategy Institute.
With tensions riding high between Moscow and Ankara following Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border on November 24, Davutoglu said Turkey respects state borders of all the countries and demands everyone to demonstrate the same respect to its borders.
Relations between Russia and Turkey have deteriorated after Turkish Air Force jets shot down the Russian SU-24 bomber when it entered Turkish airspace November 24.
In turn, President Vladimir Putin stated yesterday that “Russia will not rattle the saber, but Turkey tomatoes don’t cut it”. Putin called the incident a “stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorism”, accusing Turkey of aiding fanatical Islamist groups in Syria and promising sanctions in retaliation.
Alexey Miller, chief executive officer of the Russian energy company, Gazprom, said that Turkey had not returned to Russia with a proposal about the project, adding that it was now waiting for an intergovernmental agreement between Ankara and Moscow.
In a speech during a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu again defended Turkey’s action and said Turkey won’t apologize for defending its borders.
“Those who believe that economic sanctions against an honourable nation like Turkey can bring it to its knees will be mistaken”, Davutoglu said.
Russian Federation is accusing Turkey of downing the jet in order to protect its oil trade with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. The Russian pilot was killed by militants after bailing out from the plane and a Russian marine was also killed on a rescue mission to retrieve a second pilot.
For Russia, its two main projects for bypassing Ukraine are both now facing increasingly hard times.