“We expressed our sadness and expressed our condolences for the Russian pilot who lost his life”, Turkish media quoted Cavusoglu as saying after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Belgrade, in the first high-level contact between the two sides since the incident on November 24. “Turkey is confident that this crisis can be resolved through talks”.
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Negotiations for the pipeline have hit previous hiccups since the initial agreement to build the pipeline was reached last December, but tensions between the two countries have ratcheted up in recent weeks after Turkey shot down a Russian jet it said strayed across the Syrian border into Turkey.
President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have travelled to key energy partners Qatar and Azerbaijan respectively this week in an effort to avert any economically damaging disruption in energy supplies as winter sets in.
Lavov also commented on Turkey’s that “Russian citizens are involved in the purchase of oil from IS” to say it was odd they came only after Russia presented its claims that the Turkish president and his family are involved in this illegal trade. In particular, Russian Federation has prohibited the import of some products from Turkey, including poultry offal and certain fruit and vegetables, effective from January 2016.
“We must leave all arguments and disagreements behind and make one powerful fist, a single anti-terror front, which would work on the basis of worldwide law under the aegis of the United Nations”, Mr Putin said in his annual state-of-the-nation address.
Moscow protested Ankara and promised serious consequences to Russian-Turkish relations, including economic sanctions. One trader said Turkey was also looking to buy wheat from the European Union.
The new U.S. sanctions also apply to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, a wealthy Russian businessman and long-standing president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) who was formerly president of the southern Russian region of Kalmykia.
Almost half of Turkey’s power generation is sourced from natural gas, leaving households and industry vulnerable to any disruption, she said.
Davutoglu insisted Turkey did not know the nationality of the plane it downed inside Turkish air space.
Ankara responded strongly and said it could not be held responsible for defending its borders and airspace.
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The head of Russia’s state gas giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, told journalists earlier Thursday that Turkey would have to ask Russian Federation to renew talks on TurkStream.
