ASTANA, October 13. /TASS/. Creating a gas hub in Turkey, building another nuclear power plant in Sinop, and supporting agreements on the export of grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea became the topics of negotiations between Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan in Astana.

The leaders, who spoke on the sidelines of the Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in the capital of Kazakhstan, highlighted the high level of relations between the two countries and also announced their intention to expand cooperation in the energy sector.

Putin said that Russia’s natural gas supplies to Turkey are being delivered in full and Ankara has turned out to be the most reliable partner today for deliveries of the natural gas to Europe. "Speaking about hydrocarbon energy, I should say that the deliveries of our hydrocarbons, including natural gas, are being delivered in full volume and according to your requests," he said.

Meanwhile, Putin's idea to create a gas hub in Turkey was positively received by Erdogan, the two parties gave instruction to work on it. "Instructions were immediately given by both presidents - right during the negotiations - to work on this issue. Various options have even been discussed," he said.

Putin and Erdogan also discussed the grain deal during talks, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "It was indeed discussed," the Kremlin spokesman said, answering a question whether this topic had been raised at the meeting. "It was stressed once again that the major, the overwhelming portion of grain is going actually to Europe, that is, to rich countries. And a very small portion of grain goes to poor countries," Peskov noted.

The first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is likely to be managed to be commissioned in time, Putin told Erdogan. "Our colleagues from governments and companies dealing with the practical work are implementing all the outlined plans. This pertains also to the investment process and construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. The work is on track," the Russian leader said.

About 20,000 people are currenrly working on the site, Putin said. "We are getting on track and to all appearance we will manage to honor our agreements on launching the first power unit by the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey," the President added.

At the same time, the presidents did not touch upon the situation in Ukraine, according to Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. According to Peskov, the issue "wasn’t touched upon at all".