LONDON (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday that Turkey was the most reliable route to deliver gas to the European Union and proposed to build what he called a supply hub there.
“In the course of the work of this hub, which we could create together, of course, it would also be a platform not only for supplies, but also for determining the price, because this is a very important issue – the issue of pricing,” Putin said.
“Today, these prices are sky-high; we could easily regulate [them] at a normal market level, without any political overtones.”
Putin first suggested on Wednesday that Russia could create a major gas hub in Turkey by redirecting supplies intended for the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea, which were damaged by explosions last month. Swedish and Danish authorities are investigating those blasts as acts of sabotage but have not yet said who they believe was behind them.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
