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Turkey and Russia aim to build an international gas distribution center on Turkish soil, President Recep Tayip Erdogan reported on Friday, October 14. The announcement comes a day after his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, publicly expressed this plan after the leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipeline from the Baltic Sea, of which Brussels and Moscow accuse each other. Meanwhile, Ukraine denounces Russian “evacuations” of civilians in Kherson as “deportations”.
Russia receives a boost from Turkey for its gas distribution, despite economic sanctions against Moscow for the war in Ukraine.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the Ministry of Energy to begin the technical studies and the necessary process to build a gas distribution center on Turkish soil “without delay”.
“This will be an international distribution center (…) There will be no waiting on this matter,” Erdogan said during his return flight from Kazakhstan, after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Conference Summit. Interaction and Confidence Measures in Asia (CICA).
Precisely, Ankara announces the order a day after Putin publicly launched the proposal.
The Russian head of state proposed exporting the resource through the Turk Stream gas pipeline under the Black Sea, after deliveries through the Nord Stream gas pipeline from the Baltic Sea were stopped due to explosions and subsequent leaks that are still under investigation.
“Together with Mr. Putin, we have instructed our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the relevant institution on the Russian side to work together (…) They will carry out this study. Wherever it is the most appropriate place, hopefully we will establish this distribution center there,” Erdogan said in the last hours.
The Turkish head of state added that the Thrace region in eastern Turkey, which borders Greece and Bulgaria, seemed to be the best place for such construction.
Moscow accuses the West of the damage to Nord Stream, while the European Union points to the Kremlin for being behind the damage that further worsened energy prices in Europe, in retaliation for economic sanctions and limits on prices at the Russian fuel demanded by the United States. All in an attempt to hit the finances of the government that ordered the invasion against Ukraine on February 24.
But now Putin is looking for alternative avenues for his main source of income. The Kremlin leader noted that Turkey represents the “most reliable” route to deliver gas to the European Union.
The Russian president also proposed last Wednesday, October 12, to resume the supply of gas through a link that remains intact from the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, bound for Germany under the Baltic Sea.
However, his offer was immediately rejected by Berlin and other governments, as Putin demanded to lift the cap on the price of Russian fuels.
Russia begins “evacuations” of civilians from Kherson, which Ukraine denounces as “deportations”
Hundreds of people from the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, recently annexed by Russia in disputed referendums, are expected to begin arriving in Russian territory this Friday, October 14.
The moves are scheduled a day after a Moscow-installed official, quoted by Russia’s state news agency TASS, advised all residents of the region to flee, especially those around the city of Kherson.
While some people in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine have fled to the neighboring country, as Ukrainian forces advance in an attempt to retake their territories, others have reported being forced out by Russian authorities. Thousands more have left for western Ukraine and other parts of their country still controlled by local authorities.
A Ukrainian member of the Kherson regional council condemned Russia’s so-called “evacuation” of the occupied city, saying it was in fact a “deportation” and urged residents to go to Ukrainian-controlled territory if they can.
Ukraine says it has liberated more than 600 settlements in the last month
Despite the renewed attacks of the invading troops that in recent days have bombarded kyiv, the capital, the Ukrainian forces maintain a strong counteroffensive.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories maintains that kyiv has liberated more than 600 settlements from Russian occupation in the past month, including 75 in the highly strategic Kherson region.
The ministry noted that some 502 villages have been liberated in the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian forces advanced deep into Russian front lines last month.
The ministry also said that Ukrainian soldiers liberated 43 settlements in the Donetsk region and seven in neighboring Lugansk province.
“The area of liberated Ukrainian territories has increased significantly,” the ministry said in a statement.
These figures have not been independently verified due to difficulties in accessing the war camp.
Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south of the attacked country, were awarded by Moscow at the end of last September when a counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces advanced rapidly in the northeast, east and south. However, the annexations are not recognized by the international community and are denounced by kyiv and the West as illegal.
With Reuters, AFP and local media
