ST. PETERSBURG, October 10. /TASS/. The Turkish Stream gas pipeline (TurkStream) can help European countries with energy supplies if Ukraine refuses to extend gas transit from Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (SPIGF).

"A couple of years ago we built an alternative route: gas goes through the Turkish Stream from Russia to Turkey and then eventually to Hungary. <…> This alternative route may help not only Hungary, but other countries of Central Europe if they face a serious situation in case there is no transit via Ukraine," he said.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky announced that Kiev would not extend the agreement with Gazprom on the transit of Russian gas, which expires in December of this year. Nevertheless, he said that after the contract expires, Ukraine will jointly with the EU decide on the transit of Russian gas through its territory to Europe.

Hungary still receives more than half of the gas it consumes from Russia. In October 2022, the Hungarian MVM and Gazprom reached an agreement to increase supplies via the southern route through Turkey, and gas transportation via Ukraine began to decline. In 2022, 4.8 billion cubic meters of gas were delivered to Hungary via the Turkish Stream and its extension through Bulgaria and Serbia. As Szijjarto reported, this quantity increased to 5.6 billion cubic meters in 2023.