ATHENS, November 7. /TASS/. Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for a ban on Russian natural gas supplies to the European Union, including via the TurkStream gas pipeline. He announced this at the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation conference in Athens. The prime minister's speech was broadcast on the forum's website.

"We cannot have Russian gas getting into Europe through the backdoor via Turkiye. So, we stand absolutely ready to assist in this effort through the Vertical Corridor, with American LNG coming to Greece and then north towards Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, and Slovakia," the prime minister said. According to him, Greece is "the natural entry point for US LNG to replace Russian gas in the region."

Greece receives natural gas from the Sidirokastro entry point from the Bulgarian gas system, which is supplied, in particular, by the TurkStream gas pipeline. Greece also receives natural gas from Azerbaijan via the Southern Gas Corridor, as well as liquefied natural gas by sea.

On October 20, EU energy ministers approved a proposal from the European Commission to ban all types and forms of Russian gas supplies to EU countries from January 1, 2028. New short-term contracts will be prohibited from January 1, 2026, and current short-term contracts must expire by June 17, 2026. For this provision to come into force, it must be approved by the European Parliament. However, the European Parliament insists on ending Russian gas supplies to EU countries a year earlier—from January 1, 2027.