Premier Praises that Erdogan Admits Gas Supplies for Slovakia via TurkStream

Ankara, January 20 (TASR-correspondent) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is opening up possibilities for Slovakia for Russian gas supplies through the TurkStream pipeline, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) told a press conference following his meeting on Monday with the Turkish president in Ankara, adding that the issue could also be discussed with Russian partners. According to the Slovak premier, Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) should discuss the issue in Istanbul at the end of the week. Erdogan has promised to consider Slovakia's need. Fico again criticised Ukraine's stance to stop the transit of Russian gas through its territory. According to him, Erdogan immediately offered the possibility of communication between the Slovak economy minister and the responsible Turkish minister, which, in cooperation with the Russian partner, could lead to Slovakia being able to continue to take gas from Russia. "If Ukraine has stopped supplying gas to Slovakia through its territory, we, through our ministry, have tried to take the necessary steps to open negotiations," the Turkish president told a joint press conference. "I said to consider this need of Slovakia for natural gas and my foreign minister [Hakan Fidan] also discussed this with [Russian Foreign] Minister [Sergey] Lavrov. I can discuss it with [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin," stated Erdogan, adding that a phone call should be made on this issue at the end of this week. He hopes that a step forward can be made. Fico considers the alternative offered to Slovakia by Erdogan to be a good one, noting that the second TurkStream pipe is intended to allow the gas to continue on to countries such as Bulgaria and Romania. "This is a pipe with a certain capacity that we can use. The Russian partners have to step in, they have to say whether they are ready to increase the volumes of gas supplies to reach the territory of Slovakia," stated the Slovak premier. Slovakia will also talk to the Russian side about whether this alternative is an option, he said. am/mcs