Russia's Deputy Chief of Staff Ushakov: "Putin and Erdoğan will discuss the natural gas hub project."

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Ushakov stated that there is a planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, saying, "The leaders will discuss the natural gas center project planned to be established in Turkey."

PUTIN WILL HOST ERDOĞAN

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Ushakov held a press conference today ahead of the BRICS Summit scheduled to take place in Kazan, Tatarstan, from October 22 to 24. Ushakov stated that many leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will be hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he also provided information about the topics of the planned bilateral meetings. Sharing information about the planned meeting between Erdoğan and Putin, Ushakov said, "Putin and Erdoğan will meet in Kazan on October 23. The leaders will discuss the natural gas center planned to be established in Turkey at this summit."

36 COUNTRIES WILL BE REPRESENTED AT THE BRICS SUMMIT

Yuri Ushakov noted that during the BRICS Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazwani, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and Bolivian President Luis Arce. Ushakov added that 36 countries, including 22 at a high level, will be represented at the summit.

TURKEY IS BECOMING A NATURAL GAS CENTER

Russia's North Stream 1 and 2 and Yamal-Europe pipelines being put into idle status also highlight Turkey's position as a factor that strengthens the country's desire to increase shipments to Europe again.

For these reasons, the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 4, 2023, in Sochi accelerated the natural gas center project to be established in Turkey.

Putin announced here that Gazprom presented the roadmap for the project to BOTAŞ, while President Erdoğan stated that the Istanbul Finance Center will also become Turkey's energy center.

Russian experts indicate that Russia and Turkey have the resources to realize the project, while also noting that Europe's approach will be one of the determining factors.