Turkey Ready to Resume Pipeline Project with Russia

“It is a matter of viability, an issue of commercial terms and a political climate of trust, which in fact is probably the best guarantee for creating attracting economic conditions”.

The two countries would discuss the lifting of the food import ban, 2) They would review the resumption of the TurkStream gas pipeline, and 3) They would discuss resumption of chartered flights between Russian Federation and Turkey. “Therefore, it is a complex issue, but certainly no one evades discussing the project”, Peskov said.

“Unfortunately Russia is being used in the electoral campaign in the U.S. Unfortunately this traditional game is continuing. You know that we work out alternative (gas) routes, and discuss options with our European partners”, Peskov said.

“There are political decisions on these two projects”.

Simsek is the highest ranking Turkish official to visit Russia since the November downing of the Russian jet on the Syrian border sparked an unprecedented crisis in relations.

“Turkey has no hostile feelings to Russian Federation, and will never have”, he said.

“Turkish Stream is beneficial to both countries”, the minister said.

On 26 July 2016, officials from Russian Federation and Turkey discussed prospects for Gazprom’s proposed Turkish Stream project, yet they reached no decision. Last year Kremlin froze the project in retaliation against Ankara for the shooting down of a Russian air force jet.

An agreement to build the Turkish Stream gas pipeline was reached in December 2014.

Mr. Peskov also rubbished a report that Mr. Trump’s foreign policy adviser Carter Page had met Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov in Russian Federation this month to speak at the graduation ceremony of the New Economic School in Moscow.