Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he would not refuse to meet his Turkish counterpart in Belgrade later this week.
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“The meeting addressed the status of the Nord Stream II project as well as possibilities of an asset swap and oil supplies to OMV from the Gazprom group portfolio”, Gazprom said in a statement. The fierce personal attack on Erdogan reflects the Kremlin’s anger and signals that Russia-Turkey tensions will likely continue to escalate.
However, talks on building a nuclear power plant in Turkey remained open, he added.
Despite the cold tone, Lavrov’s comments will come as a welcome surprise to Turkish leaders, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has tried and failed to get an audience with the Russian leadership in the aftermath of the downing of the Russian jet on the Syrian border on November 24.
The lion’s share of Russian exports to Turkey is made up of wheat and gas, for which no restrictions are envisaged. Russian Federation has also threatened that Turkey will regret this “more than once” and have already started putting bans on Turkish imports. According to Knobel, Russia is unlikely to restrict the import of vegetables ahead of the New Year holidays.
The sanctions may drive Turkish construction companies out of the Russian market.
However, there is another side to the story. He said the Russian air raids have destroyed 32 oil production facilities, 11 refineries and 1,080 oil trucks since they began on September 30.
The business communities of both countries are fully aware of the situation.
This is a feeling shared by the Russian corporate sector as well.
Kerry and Lavrov will arrive here late on Wednesday along with their large delegations – Kerry will be accompanied by around 260 people, while the Russian team will include nearly 100.
Considering the current trend in the increase of important projects initiated by the two countries, Azerbaijani-Turkish collaboration is expected to develop in the future.
As the best case scenario, one can hope the economic interdependence between the two countries will reverse the measures taken by Russian Federation and have positive spillover effect on the political realm.
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“So, we attach much importance to three mechanisms; Turkey-Azerbaijan-Georgia, Turkey-Azerbaijan-Iran and Turkey-Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan”, he added.
