Istanbul: Talks between Russia and Turkey on building a new gas pipeline between the two countries are currently frozen amid differences over the price of Russian gas imports, a Turkish official said yesterday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the plan for the Turkstream pipeline in a shock move in December 2014, saying it would replace Russia’s now junked South Stream joint venture with EU firms.
However, despite the fanfare of the announcement, construction of the pipeline has never properly got under way, leaving analysts suspicious over the feasibility of the project.
“I am not saying the sides have walked away from the table. I am saying that the talks are frozen,” Turkish media quoted energy ministry assistant under-secretary Sefa Sadik Aytekin as saying on the sidelines of a conference in Istanbul.
He said that talks were “deadlocked” because of preconditions imposed by Russian gas giant Gazprom for the reduction Turkey wants in the price of Russian gas imports.
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