Erdogan turns on Putin and offers EU lifeline out Ukraine crisis by CUTTING Russia ties
TURKEY President Recep Erdogan appears to have turned on close ally and Russian President Vladimir Putin by offering the EU a lifeline out of the Ukraine crisis.
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Turkey has "given the green light" for natural gas to pass from Israel to Europe, according to reports. It comes amid a supply crisis which Mr Putin has been accused of "weaponising" amid tensions with Ukraine. Mr Erdogan, who has long been an ally on Mr Putin, has changed his stance in recent weeks amid the concerning tensions with NATO.
Mr Erdogan said, “We paved the way for Israel.
"We use Israeli gas in our country. We will engage in a joint effort for its transition to Europe."
It comes after Mr Erdogan offered to host a peace summit between Ukraine and Russia.
The move came as Russia accused the US of ratcheting up “tensions” by sending 1,000 soldiers to Romania and 2,000 to Poland to bolster NATO’s eastern flank.
The Turkish leader is looking to leverage his special relationship with Mr Putin and strong support for Kiev to set up peace talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked him for the efforts and insisted he was “ready to do everything possible in all platforms and in all formats” to bring peace to Ukraine.
It comes as the price of wholesale natural gas is soaring amid the tensions.
The EU relies on roughly 40 percent of its imports from Russia, who has been accused of toying with supplies.
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This week, gas flowing between Poland and Germany from Russia's Yamal-Europe pipeline came to a halt for several hours.
The pipeline, which typically flows west into Germany, has been in reverse mode, flowing east to Poland, since December 21.
It was expected to finally reverse on Wednesday after Gazprom booked transit capacity for eight hours – starting from 9pm.
But Germany's operator Gascade showed that the pipeline was at a standstill in both directions.
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On Thursday morning it was confirmed to have finally returned to normal, flowing westwards.
The EU has responded to Russian aggression in Ukraine by putting Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline on hold.
Russia has denied the accusations.
Europe last month also remained the top destination for shipments of US liquefied natural gas (LNG).
About two-thirds of US LNG volumes went to Europe last month, compared to around 61 percent in December.