Turkey intends to achieve Russian natural gas price discounts during the negotiations to be held next week, said Taner Yildiz, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey.  

Yildiz informed that Turkey plans to propose to Russia to have the planned South Stream gas pipeline set up by land, instead of the bottom of the Black Sea. 

The minister stressed that the Ukrainian crisis “will not affect the economic relations between Turkey and Russia, since Ankara and Moscow are strategic partners,” reported ITAR-TASS news agency of Russia.  

Turkey FM Ahmet Davutoglu likewise expressed the same position.

“We are exerting considerable effort so that all these developments, in connection with Ukraine, will not have a negative impact on our cooperation with Russia. And we don’t expect negative processes in this domain,” the Turkish FM specifically stated.