In line with the Kremlin’s allegations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday blamed the energy crisis in Europe for its policy of sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
Erdogan maintained good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he sought to remain neutral in the conflict and sell fighter jets to Ukraine.
Ahead of his visit to three Balkan countries, Erdogan said European countries were “reassigning what they sow” by imposing economic sanctions on Russia, which Turkey did not.
At a press conference in Ankara, the Turkish leader said, “Europe’s attitude towards Putin and the sanctions brought him to the point of saying, ‘If you do this, I will do it too’, whether he likes it or not.”
Putin said, “He uses all the tools and weapons he has, especially natural gas. We don’t want it either, but I think Europe will have serious problems this winter.” confront “these problems”.
The EU has decided to impose a phased embargo on Russian imports of oil and petroleum products. It also stopped its purchases of coal, not just Russian gas, on which it was heavily dependent.
Erdogan announced in August an agreement to partially pay Russia’s gas shipments to Turkey in rubles instead of dollars as usual.
In 2021, the Russian market accounted for a quarter of Turkey’s oil imports and 45% of gas imports.
source: Noticias
