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Russia did not arbitrarily decide to cut gas supplies to Europe, Erdogan believes

The Turkish leader also hoped that with the launch of gas production at the new field in the Turkish zone of the Black Sea, tariffs for the population will be reduced by 2023

ANKARA, September 9. /TASS/. Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan is convinced that Russia did not make an arbitrary decision to cut its gas supplies to Europe. He divulged this standpoint to Turkish journalists on board the presidential plane, returning from Croatia.

"Of course, Russia did not arbitrarily make such decisions and did not take such steps. Europe is not as comfortable and peaceful as it was supposed to be. In the current situation, fortunately, we do not have such problems yet. Russia has not applied sanctions against us. I had a meeting with him (with Russian President Vladimir Putin - TASS). We talked about the price [of gas supplied from the Russian Federation to Turkey]. If his position turns out to be positive, then the most favorable prices will be provided for our people. This is our goal," the Turkish president said as quoted by NTV Channel.

Erdogan also hoped that with the launch of gas production "at the new field in the Turkish zone of the Black Sea, tariffs for the population will be reduced by 2023."

The energy crisis in the EU worsened at the beginning of July when the first disruptions of gas supplies from Russia to a number of European states appeared. In particular, this was triggered by technical and maintenance issues around the Nord Stream pipeline’s turbines from the US-led West’s sanctions.

After that the European Commission called on the EU countries to prepare in advance for a complete halt of Russian gas supplies. It also introduced a plan to voluntarily reduce gas consumption by all member-states by 15% from August 1, 2022 until March 31, 2023.